Remember
by Gwntan12
Summary: He's always seen the strange, horrific looking creatures for as long as he could remember. Feelings of déjà vu always come and go. And he just doesn't know why. Or at least he didn't, until he came to True Cross Academy on a Student exchange programme. [Sequel to Trust]
1. The Beginning

When he was one, his mother always noticed how he liked to swat playfully at the air, giggling at the empty space above his cradle as his blue eyes sparkled with happiness.

She always worried about what this could mean, although she tried not to let it worry her too much. Young children tend to have imaginary friends before they grew put of it at a later age, right? This wouldn't escalate into something bad, or so she hoped.

Too bad hope wasn't feeling particularly helpful as of late.

0o0

When he was five, he often came running up to her crying about the dark shape in the corner of his room that would always leer at him at night, hissing.

She never saw anything when she went in to check, even when her little boy screamed in terror and pointed at some invisible monster.

She wanted to help him, to chase his fears away, but there was nothing she could have done against an invisible terror.

She brought him to a psychologist, but there was nothing the man could do. No matter what he tried, her son kept _seeing_ the creatures. At home, at school, everywhere. Her son wasn't spared the torment.

She just didn't know what to do.

0o0

When he was seven, he got into his first fight. Some students had been picking on another student at the school, and her son had just... snapped. Violently, at that.

The bullies were currently in the hospital for broken bones.

She had no idea why her son was so strong. She hadn't even thought a seven year old _had_ that kind of strength.

When she asked her son why he had beaten his classmates up, and not gone to a teacher for help, he had simply said,

"I saw them hurtin' Yuki."

The brown haired, glasses wearing student wasn't named Yuki.

0o0

When he was twelve, he didn't talk about the things he saw all that much anymore. Occasionally, he did make a passing remark about the strange bug like creatures he saw everywhere, sometimes drawing them out on paper for her.

Sometimes, she wonders if there is some truth in what her son sees.

0o0

When he was fourteen, he still gets into fights, coming home with scraped knuckles, bruises, and scratches.

He doesn't know why he has a feeling of déjà vu whenever his mother cleans his injuries and lectures him.

During brief moments, he doesn't see his mother cleaning his wounds, but a brown haired teenager with glasses doing so instead.

He's never his mother about this.

0o0

When he is fifteen, his school announced a student exchange programme with another school in Japan.

A really classy, stuck up, kind of school in his opinion.

Which, thanks to his _astounding_ luck (Note the sarcasm), he so happens to end up as the _lucky_ student who's picked to go, never mind the fact he's an American who has obviously never spoken Japanese a day in his life.

His school probably just wanted to get pawn him off to another school for a while, so they just messed with the lucky draw.

 _How_ is a lucky draw even a way to choose students for an exchange programme?

Surprisingly, Japanese was easy to learn how to speak. Once again, déjà vu smacks him in the face.

He often wonders what he did in a past life to offend some higher up being in the sky. Although if he did have a past life, he wondered what he was like then.

He swats away another one of those bug like creatures in frustration.

Meanwhile, in Japan, the Director of True Cross Academy _laughs_ as the staff cheerily ignores him.

0o0

As he was about to board the plane to Japan, why did he feel so nostalgic?

He shrugs this off as he takes his seat and reads a travel guide about Japan.

He really wanted to visit the Kyoto Tower.

0o0

Three days later, Ray Owens found himself standing at the entrance hall of True Cross Academy, gaping at mere splendour of the place in an almost comedic fashion.

And a mere three seconds later, did Ray realise he had no idea where the Director's office was.

He could only groan as he trudged off to ask for directions.

0o0

Mephisto Pheles, or John Faust as he known in the academy, found coincidences hilarious.

Especially so when it involved the Okumura twins.

Which was why when he found out who had been chosen for the student exchange programme (Which he had created out of mere boredom since things were getting rather dull), he found it extremely hard to breathe through his mad laughter. Especially when he found out who was going to be teaching the class the student was going to be placed in.

Yukio Okumura was no doubt going to think Mephisto did this on purpose, even though he (for once) had no hand in the placement.

Ray Owens, Rin Okumura, it was almost laughable how the names had the same first letter, especially how identical the two students were.

Well, except for the fact that Rin Okumura was fifteen years dead.

Which was really a shame, since the eldest Okumura twin had been such a wonderful pawn in his games.

Although the sudden suicide of Rin Okumura did put a halt on Mephisto's game, it was rather amusing to see his Father's reaction.

For starters, Satan was not happy with students of the Cram school, although he did refrain from setting them on fire.

Of course, Mephisto couldn't blame his Father if he had actually set the students on fire. After all, they had just single handedly pushed Rin to his eventual suicide.

Which basically meant they had just indirectly murdered Satan's son, _Yuri's_ son, but either way, Rin was already dead.

Although... Amaimon did mention how their Father looked a little happier a few days later, obviously pleased about something...

Mephisto grinned. It seems that this was going to be much more interesting than he had first anticipated.

How was this little game going to end, he wondered as he waited for one Ray Owens to arrive.

0o0

A thirty year old Yukio visits his brother's grave, sets the white lilies Shiemi had grown in her garden, and cries.

It was, after all, the fifteenth anniversary of his brother's death.

He just wants to see his brother one more time, just to speak to him once more.

"I'm sorry."

 **[A/N Hey guys! So, I actually intended to post this story _after_ I finish my current main story, buuuut as you can see, this story was just calling my name until I got down and wrote the damn thing.**

 **Anyway, I'm actually not particularly sure _where_ exactly am I going to go with this, but my few ideas I have for this story are this:**

 **1\. Rin/Ray does not get his flames until later when some random shit goes down.**

 **2\. Rin/Ray _might_ remember his past life.**

 **3\. Satan is not an evil bastard who plans on conquering Assiah, because honestly I don't like that version of him. I kinda like the fatherly Satan.**

 **4\. Rin/Ray will come across his old friends from Cram school, but how their reactions will vary... eh, I need some ideas for that.**

 **5\. Basically, this story will be more or less fluff, and drama. Maybe some action.**

 **6\. Yukio has the Kurikara, since he kept it even after Rin died. Rin's flames aren't all still there, just bit of it that stayed since Rin was reincarnated before they could dissipate completely.**

 **Well, those are my ideas, but I still need more ideas!**

 **Anyway, thanks for bothering to read up until this point, so cookies to you.**

 **See you guys next time!**

 **~ Gwntan12 ]**


	2. Of Dorms and Cats

Ray was feeling very stupid as he stood in the large entrance hall of True Cross Academy as he struggled to read the stupidly fancy directory, which really just looked like a bunch of gibberish to him.

Fortunately, the school term was only going to begin in a couple of days, so that meant no one was around to laugh at him for his lack of Japanese reading skills.

While he had a basic grasp of how to _speak_ the Japanese language, reading was another thing altogether.

Looking down to his book -Learning the Japanese language for dummies- a few more times, Ray was finally able to figure out where the Director's office was.

His footsteps echoed with each step he took, making him realise how _empty_ the place was. The whole place was void of humans _and_ those weird fuzzy creatures he usually saw floating around.

For the first time in Ray's entire life, he heard total silence. No buzzing, no hissing, nothing.

Honestly, Ray didn't know if he should be happy, or worried.

When he finally arrived at the Director's office, a feeling of nostalgia came over him. Frowning slightly, Ray shook his head before knocking.

"Come in!" An over exuberant voice announced from the inside the office, and when he did, Ray wondered briefly whether or not he could back out of the student exchange programme.

"Welcome!" Ray did a double take. The eccentric looking man was dressed as what he could only describe as a clown. He was not afraid to voice this aloud.

The man's eye twitched slightly at this, although there was a glint in his eye for reasons unknown to Ray.

"How rude! I am the Academy's director, Johann Faust." Fortunately, he wasn't speaking in Japanese, so Ray understood him perfectly.

Ray shot him a blank look, which the man ignored.

The man folded his arms in front of him, the green hamster on his desk making a racket as it ran on its exercise wheel. "Ray Owens, as you know, you'll be here for the next three months, so here's the key to your dorm."

He threw Ray a silver key that looked vaguely familiar to the teenager.

"You'll be staying at the old boy's dorm where one of our teacher's is currently staying. I can't leave a student unsupervised, and since that teacher was already there..." He gave a shrug of his shoulders.

"Well, that's that, now off you go! I have anime to wa- I mean, work to do." Then he shoved Ray out of his office and slammed the door shut. Moments later, the sound of anime music was muffled by the door, but was definitely there.

Ray blinked, staring at the shut door before he shrugged and turned away. Some things were better off left unquestioned.

0o0

Kuro had been devastated when he had finally caught wind of Rin's suicide. He had wailed with grief for an entire day, only briefly switching to soft sniffling during the funeral, and after that, refused to move from Rin's grave for the subsequent three days.

Kuro only returned to the old dorm to quietly mourn once Yukio put his foot down and brought the cat sidth back.

He hadn't wanted to believe Rin was gone, just like Shiro.

But he was. Kuro had to face the facts about a year later. Rin was never coming back. He was dead, and no amount of wishing would being him back.

Or so he thought.

Fiftteen years after Rin died, Kuro was padding down the hallways of the old boy's dorm, waiting for Yukio.

Yukio had just left without a word, but Kuro did have a vague idea as to where he had gone.

On normal days, the cat sidth would have wanted to follow Yukio, but for today, especially _today_ , the man needed his space, and Kuro was willing to give him that.

When the front door of the dorms clicked open, the cat sidth's ears perked up. His paws tapped against the ground softly as he went to go greet Yukio.

But it wasn't Yukio who had arrived at the dorm.

Yukio didn't have messy dark bluish hair.

Kuro felt his eyes widen, his eyes shining with moisture.

 _"Rin...?"_ This came out as a meow, which caught the attention of the teenager, who turned to face Kuro's direction, allowing the cat sidth to have a complete view of his face.

 _"Rin!"_ Kuro darted forward, his claws gripping the teenager's pant leg as the cat wailed loudly.

"Woah!" The teenager exclaimed, feeling Kuro barrel into his leg, stumbling back from the force before he caught sight of the cat sidth.

"A cat?" The teenager voiced aloud, much to Kuro's confusion. Why didn't Rin recognise him?

 _"Rin! Rin, it's me! Kuro!"_ Kuro meowed desperately, pushing at the teenager's leg with his nose. But the teenager didn't even appear to have heard Kuro's voice as anything more than simple meowing.

 _"Rin..."_ Kuro's ears drooped with sadness. The teenager's scent was just like Rin's, so how could he not be Rin? He looked the same too!

"I wonder who's cat is this?" The teenager carefully detached Kuro from his jeans, holding the cat up at eye level before he blinked.

"Are those _horns_?" From where he was being held up, Kuro noticed some things. How... more human his friend looked. His ears were no longer pointed, his fangs were like a human's, and his eyes seemed less... demonic.

Kuro felt himself being placed back down on the ground, and after being given a scratch behind the ears (Much like how Rin used to do it), the teenager smiled.

"See you around, little guy."

Kuro gave a sad meow as he sat down, watching the other pick up a duffel bag and grab the handle of a wheelie bag before he fumbled with a piece of paper.

"Room... 600? Okay..." He mumbled before he trudged out of sight, leaving Kuro sitting on the floor staring after him.

Minutes after the teenager was gone, Kuro gave a soft cry.

0o0

Ray pushed the door of his room for the next three months open, nose wrinkling at the musty smell.

"When was the last time someone even _dusted_?" He wondered, dragging his luggage into the room before leaving it in the corner.

He sneezed, rubbing his nose which was beginning to get choked up from the dust.

"I need air!" Ray groaned, trudging over to the window before he pulled the drapes aside and flung it open, gasping as fresh air filled his lungs and the room.

Looking around the room now that it wasn't so bright, it was actually quite a decent room, even if the dust was a minus point.

As Ray's eyes trailed over the bed, he only then realised how damn _tired_ he was, no thanks to the stupid jetlag.

Although he probably should have been unpacking his things to get ready for the school term, Ray's tired mind opted to switch off as soon as possible.

Carelessly fluffing the mattress and pillow to clear it of some dust, Ray then flopped down on the bed, still fully clothed, falling asleep mere seconds after his head hit the pillow.

0o0

When Yukio returned to the old dorm in the evening, he was greeted with the most peculiar sight of Kuro meowing softly, looking ready to burst into tears.

"What's wrong, Kuro?" Yukio asked, still baffled by the cat sidth's behaviour. The last time Kuro had behaved this was when Rin-

He shook his head. No. Stop. Don't think about it. Yukio was certain he wouldn't be able to prevent the tears from streaking down his face if he dwelled on the past for too long a time.

Kuro meowed out a response, and at times like these did Yukio wish he could understand Kuro so he didn't have to play guessing games.

"Is it about the exchange student who's staying here that Sir Pheles told me about?"

A meow giving affirmation.

"Did something happen?"

Kuro shook his head.

"Then I'm sure it's nothing to worry about." Yukio said, giving Kuro a reassuring scratch behind the ears, before pausing.

"He's not allergic to cats, is he?"

Kuro gave a meow of protest, before stalking off, obviously frustrated about Yukio's lack of understanding, leaving the man feeling rather confused at the cat sidth's behaviour.

Walking down the hallway to his room, Yukio remembered that the exchange student, Ray Owens if he remembered correctly, was staying in Room 600, just a couple of doors away from his own room.

He barely gave Room 600 a glance as he strode past, knowing that the student must have been exhausted from his trip. Yukio had experienced the jetlag between Japan and America a few years back, and it wasn't pretty.

Entering his room, Yukio's chest panged with longing as he caught sight of a framed photograph that he and Rin had taken sixteen years ago.

Yukio placed it face down towards the table.

0o0

It was still early when Ray woke up the next morning, maybe around six.

Since he obviously couldn't get back to sleep (stupid jetlag), he decided to wander around for a bit. Since he was going to stay here for the next three months, he'd better get familiar with the place.

The little black cat from the previous day kept following him around for some reason, meowing at him and looking up at him with hopeful eyes, as thought hoping that Ray would understand whatever it was he was trying to say.

Unfortunately, Ray didn't speak cat.

Eventually, the teenager found himself on the roof of the dorm, feeling slightly... hurt, for some reason. He didn't know why he felt this way, he just felt the throbbing feeling of hurt in his chest.

The black cat meowed at Ray, before quietly moving to the side of the roof, pawing at the ledge while looking at the teenager with expectant eyes.

Still feeling slightly puzzled, Ray walked forward, able to make out something on the ground next to the cat. As he neared, he found that the object next to the cat was actually a white lily.

Ray stopped directly in front off th ledge the cat was pawing at, before he knelt down finally noticed the words that had been snatched into the concrete who knows how many years ago.

 _Never forget Rin Okumura._

 _"Who couldn't fly,"_ Ray dryly thought before he paused. Why did he think that?

Shaking his head, Ray turned around and left the vicinity.

Ray didn't know why a tear slid down his cheek.

0o0

When Yukio woke up, Kuro was no where to be found, and the exchange student had already left the dorm, most likely to explore.

He didn't mind it too much. He needed the peace and quiet to look over his lesson plans for regular school and Cram school. He'd see the exchange student in his regular school class, so it really didn't matter whether or not Yukio saw the student at the dorm.

Looking back down at his lesson plans, Yukio sighed. After Rin had... passed on... Yukio had just buried himself in his exorcist duties, carrying out missions day after day, week after week.

He pushed himself to his limits, always coming home exhausted and sore.

He always told himself and anyone who asked that all his work was to try and forget his grief.

He lied.

He knew, deep down, he was punishing himself.

What kind of brother was he, to not notice how much his twin, his _twin_ for God's sake, was hurting?

Yukio just couldn't forgive himself.

 **[A/N** **So... guess who decided to write this chapter out even thought it was something like four in the morning?**

 **Anyway, as I read in a PM, I thought I'd address something which I think some people want to know. Which was basically why Rin/Ray is in America instead Japan.**

 **For starters, reincarnation is random. What are the chances that you end up in the exact same country as your first birth? Pretty low actually, if you look at all the countries in the world. And why I chose America? No reason, really. I was picking at random, and I just so happened to get America.**

 **The reasons behind Rin/Ray's reincarnation will come out soon.**

 **Thanks for reading!**

 **~ Gwntan12]**


	3. Familiar Faces

Ray really had no idea where he was. He had left the dorms a couple of hours ago to explore, and right now, he was honestly regretting his decision now that he was utterly and hopelessly lost somewhere in the city.

The black cat from the dorms that had followed him for some reason meowed at him, nudging at his foot.

"What is it?" Ray peered down at the cat curiously, trying his best not to mess up his Japanese. Even if he wasn't talking to a human, it really sounded like the cat was giggling every time he tripped over his words.

The cat meowed once more, and pointed at a house on a hill, with some steps leading up to said house, as well as steps that led up to what appeared to be a garden, but Ray wasn't too sure.

"What about that house?" Ray asked, just as the cat starting pulling at the bottom of his jeans, as if saying that he wanted Ray to go to the house.

"You... want me to go there?" The cat gave a meow of confirmation.

Ray sent a bewildered look at the cat, before shrugging. Once again, he wasn't going to question why it looked like the cat was communicating with him.

However, before Ray could even set a foot on the stairs leading up to the house, he heard a female voice call out, "Bye Mom! I'll get these to Yuki-chan!"

Or at least that's what Ray thought the voice said. He still wasn't that familiar with Japanese.

A lady who looked to be in her late twenties or early thirties came running down the stairs with a small package, two steps at a time. She had blond hair which had been cut into a bob hairstyle, and she wore a kimono. And- was that a _leafman_ on her shoulder?!

"Uwah!" The lady tripped on the stairs, a shocked look on her face as she plummeted to the bottom of he stairs.

As Ray gaped at her, too shocked to even do anything, his mind vaguely noticing that something was wrong about this situation.

Then it hit him. Literally.

The lady just tripped on the stairs, heading for the bottom of the staircase where _Ray_ was _standing._

"Oh shi-!" Was the only thing the teenager managed to get out before the lady's body collided with his, sending them tumbling to the ground.

To make matters worse, the package she had been holding landed right on Ray's head. And damn, he was going to feel that for the next few days.

 _Hey... were those stars?_ The teenager thought, dazed, as his eyes followed the twinkling stars that spun over his head for a moment more before disappearing.

"Ah, I'm so sorry!" The lady exclaimed as she stood, her hand covering her gasp. "Are you alri-?"

"Uh... yeah... I guess..." Ray muttered, not noticing how the lady had suddenly stopped short, eyes wide as she stared at him. "But are you okay?"

The lady wordlessly nodded, and the blue eyed teenager finally noticed something was wrong.

"Uh... are you... are you _crying?!_ " True enough, tears were threatening to fall from the lady's forest green eyes as she stared at him.

"Rin... is that you?" The sheer _hope_ in her voice nearly made Ray say yes, because damn, he really felt as if he had to. But no, he wasn't this 'Rin' person, whoever he was.

"Eh... no. I'm not." Ray rubbed the back of his neck nervously as he got up, hoping this lady wouldn't start tearing up more than she already had. "I'm sorry, but I'm not this 'Rin' person."

"But you look just like him before he..." She sniffled, hiccuping slightly before she brought her hands up to her face and just _sobbed_ out incoherent Japanese words at ludicrous speed.

Okay, this was getting awkward, and _fast_.

"I'm sorry," She sobbed, the initial crying dying down. "It couldn't be, Rin's been gone for fifteen years."

"Um..." Ray awkwardly began, hoping to get the subject away from whoever 'Rin' was. "Are you..." As awkward as it was, he still needed to look at his 'Japanese for dummies' book to communicate at times. "...okay?"

The lady nodded, wiping away the last of her tears as she forced a smile onto her face, although Ray couldn't help but notice how it looked more like a pained grimace. And if she noticed the 'Japanese for dummies' book, she didn't comment on it.

"Yes, I am. I'm sorry about that. It's... hard for me to remember my friend without..." She trailed off, but Ray could catch her drift.

"Uh... sorry I made you... remember..." Ray laughed nervously. "But... who are you?"

"Oh! I forgot to introduce myself!" The lady gasped. "I'm Moriyama Shiemi. What's your name?"

"I'm Ray Owens. I'm an exchange student from America at True Cross Academy." Ray answered, before his eyes flicked to the green creature that sat comfortably on Moriyama's shoulder.

He considered asking her about it for a moment, but decided against it. She'd probably think he was mad.

"Is that Kuro?" Moriyama asked suddenly, looking at the black cat beside Ray.

"That's his name?" The American asked, surprised. "I didn't know that. He just started following me around."

"You... can't hear him talk?" The blond lady asked, wilting slightly.

"No. Should I?" Why would he be able to hear a cat _talk_? That was insane.

"Kuro was Rin's... Rin could hear him talk." Moriyama spoke softly, not meeting Ray's eyes.

The teenager made a disbelieving face. "Okay... Anyway, do you know which way it is to the old boys' dorm? I'm kinda lost..."

"The boys' dorm? Yes, and I'm headed there. Would you like me to show you the way?" Ray lit up.

"Really? Thank you!" He grinned as Moriyama picked up the package she had dropped with a grunt.

"Do you need any help with that?" Ray asked as he walked alongside her, looking at the small package she held in her hands. While small, damn, that thing was heavy. He would know, considering how his head and that package had met earlier.

The lady shook her head. "No, it's alright. I've familiar with delivering some of Yuki-chan's purchases."

"Who's that?" Ray asked curiously.

"Yuki-chan's a friend of mine. He stays at the dorms even though he's a teacher." Moriyama smiled, before she stopped short. "Has he... met you before?"

"No... why?"

"It's just that... Rin was... his twin. Fraternal twin." She looked away sadly. "Yuki-chan has never really gotten over his... passing. When he sees you, he might just mistake you for Rin."

Ray winced. "Ouch. Maybe I shouldn't go back to the dorms yet. Could you just tell me how to get back, or if there's any significant landmarks around here I can use to locate the dorm?"

Moriyama nodded, before she pointed at a statue up ahead, the package balancing precariously in her other hand. "There's a statue of Director Faust. From there, take a left. That would lead you into to the city. Then, go straight, before turning right at the second turning. You'll see a flight of stairs, and the dorm is on top."

"Thanks, Miss!" Ray waved at her. "I guess I'll go explore a bit more, so bye!"

Shiemi waved at him as he disappeared from sight with Kuro, before her smile slid off like wet paint on a rainy day.

Bringing a hand up to her eyes, she began to sob once more.

"Rin... I'm so sorry... Is this punishment... seeing you again...?"

0o0

The next day, Ray's school uniform arrived, along with his textbooks which were all unfortunately in Japanese.

 _Try not to ruin the uniform, you'll have to pay for a new one if you do. Study hard, Owens-kun~!_

 _\- John Faust_

"That guy's stationary honestly creeps me out." Ray shuddered, looking at the sticker cover envelope and letter that had come with his school materials.

Picking up the uniform, he grimaced. "Aw man! I haven't worn a uniform since elementary school!"

He slid on the black trousers, white button down shirt, and attempted, note the word _attempted_ , to tie the tie. Unfortunately, it didn't turn out too well, but Ray figured he could make do with it before he figured out how to tie one.

He pulled on the black blazer, and when he looked in the mirror, he couldn't help but grimace at how _formal_ he looked, even if it was a school uniform.

Looking at his alarm clock, he nearly had a heart attack. "Crap, I'm gonna be late!"

0o0

"Welcome to a new school year," Yukio began, preparing himself for yet another year of teaching. "I'm your home room teacher, Okumura Yukio."

Picking up a clipboard, he said, "I will call attendance. Raise your hand when you hear you name. Ayumi, Yuno..."

This went on for a few minutes before Yukio finally reached the exchange student's name. "Owens, Ray."

"Here." A student in the back lazily raised his hand, and suddenly, Yukio felt himself freeze.

That voice... even though it had been fifteen years, he couldn't mistake who that voice belonged to.

Keeping his composure, since it wouldn't do well to freak out in front of the class, he kept his face straight as he marked down the name in the attendance, discreetly glancing in the direction of the voice's owner.

Yukio couldn't have been mistaken, that face, those eyes... they all belonged to Rin. It was like a blast to the past, seeing the teenager.

There was some differences though, 'Ray Owens' didn't possess any demonic features, unlike Rin who had. Yukio also knew he didn't possess the Kurikara, since that sword was safely tucked away in his room at the dorm.

As he continued calling out attendance, he choked back the painful lump in his throat. Rin... His big brother...

Yukio so desperately wanted to believe that Ray Owens was his brother, but it just wasn't _possible._ But... Yukio had to wonder.

Were reincarnations possible? He didn't know, but in this world, where _demons_ of all things existed, it was highly plausible that reincarnation did too.

To Yukio, it seemed that he was going to have a _long_ talk with Mephisto.

0o0

"Big brother, is that little brother?" The King of Earth, Amaimon, asked Mephisto as he made circles with his hands and used them as if they were a pair of binoculars.

Whether or not that actually worked, Mephisto didn't know, nor did he really care. Amaimon could do his own things.

Mephisto shrugged, putting his feet up on his desk. "Who knows? After all, I have no idea what Father did fifteen years ago. He could have done anything. But yes, I do believe that he is, or was, Okumura Rin."

Biting down on his nail, the green haired demon spoke. "I want to play with little brother again."

The King of Time looked slightly annoyed at his younger brother. "No, you may not. Okumura-kun may have been a demon the last, but now, I believe he's completely human."

Amaimon's facial expression didn't change, but Mephisto could easily tell that the younger demon king wasn't too happy about that. About their youngest brother being a human, that is.

The King of Earth suddenly stood up, popping another lollipop into his mouth. "Father would want to know about little brother."

"Go ahead, Amaimon." Mephisto said, resting his chin in the palm of his hand. "But tell Father I wish to have my fun for a while longer before he claims our dear little brother."

Amaimon stared at Mephisto for a moment longer, before he disappeared off to who knows where.

Taking a sip of his tea, the King of Time couldn't help but grin widely.

"Okumura Rin... Ray Owens... Let's see how this brand new game plays out, shall we?"

 **[A/N Holy cow, I'm on a roll, aren't I? Two updates on two consecutive days, yaoza! I am honestly having fun with the reincarnation thing. I've even got another story similar to reincarnation, but not really at the same time. That one was more of a deaging and memory loss kind of story, but who cares?**

 **On a side note, does anyone want Rin/Ray to become an Exorcist later in the story? I'm currently choosing between that or civilian, but does anyone want him to be an Exorcist? Just wondering**.

 **Also, is it just me, or does anyone else feel annoyed when other people completely** **vilify Satan's character? Not that it isn't justified, since he is pretty evil. But I honestly don't see him as being _completely_ evil. I mean, look at him and Yuri! That freaking proves that he's not entirely evil.**

 **Well anyway, enough of that. I hope you guys enjoyed this chapter!**

 **See you guys next time!**

 **~ Gwntan12]**


	4. Encounter

Ray _tried_ to stay attentive during the lesson. That _should_ have at least earned him some points for effort. Because really, it was rather hard trying to pay attention when there was this really creepy black mass of goo making gurgling noises as it crept through the classroom like a phantom.

You'd think that after fifteen years of being able to see all sorts of weird and creepy things wouldn't phase Ray anymore.

Well, granted that it was practically breathing down the back of his neck, it really wasn't Ray's fault that the creature was rather hard to ignore.

But either way, Ray left the classroom with almost zero new knowledge, and homework regarding said knowledge.

Yeah, life was hard.

Stretching, Ray leaned back against the tree he'd been resting on while waiting for the lunch break to be over. He had already eaten, so he really had nothing to do now.

Looking back up at the sky, he let his mind wander once more, relishing the fact that he didn't see any creatures floating about, other than the occasional blob or bug creature.

He'd miss seeing a clear sky when he returned to America.

0o0

When Yukio returned to the dorms, he quickly retrieved his brother's Koumaken that had been tucked away safely in the cupboard for the last decade or so

He probably wouldn't have even touched the Kurikara for a decade more if Mephisto hadn't suggested it during their meeting.

 _"Why not have a look at your brother's sword, Okumura-kun?"_ Yukio sometimes wished that Mephisto would just get to the point instead of beating around the bush. Just explain why, damn it.

There really was no need for such time wasting, but if Mephisto found amusement in riling the younger Okumura up, what could Yukio do?

He picked up the Koumaken, gently turning it over in his hands. The sword had no longer glowed with Rin's blue flames fifteen years ago, so why would it now?

Which was why he did not expect to see what he did.

Running along the length of the blade, a small blue flame flickered faintly. However small it might have been, Yukio didn't miss the significance of it.

He knew the Kurikara had contained his brother's demon heart. But ever since the flames had vanished from the blade all those years ago, Yukio had always assumed that Rin's demon heart had died with him.

Had the demonic energy simply been biding it's time, awaiting it's master?

Had Rin really been...?

Yukio sheathed the Kurikara, letting the blade slip back into its saya with a click.

He really needed a drink.

0o0

After three hours of unsuccessfully attempting to do his homework, Ray finally decided to swallow his pride and just ask his teacher who stayed a few doors away from his room.

Ignoring his pride, Ray knocked on his teacher's door and waited.

And waited...

... And waited...

Alright, his teacher wasn't in? Ray sighed, turning to walk back to his room to once more attempt his homework with reference to a textbook he still couldn't read that well, before he paused.

Something was... tugging at him. Actually, the more accurate description of the feeling was that something was calling out to him.

 _Come back..._ The feeling seemed to imply that. And this seemed to come from the teacher's room.

Feeling throughly freaked out, Ray retreated back to his room. He honestly didn't want to know.

0o0

Later that night, Ray got up from bed to get some water. He _knew_ he should have filled his water bottle up beforehand. Now he had to go walk down the darkened hallway to the kitchen.

He didn't know about anyone else, but those hallways were creepy! Did anyone ever bother installing _working_ lights?

Using his phone as a flashlight, Ray made his way down the hallway, constantly checking over his shoulder for anything, as though he was in a horror game.

Well, he did have a reason to be worried. The last time he had taken a dare from his friend to enter an abandoned creepy house (The dorm was creepy, and sometimes looked abandoned. Yep, Ray wasn't taking any chances), something that looked like it had just come out of one of those Japanese horror movies decided it would be a good idea to follow him.

Even when he went back home.

Worst. Day. Ever.

He never took any dares afterwards, and last Ray checked, the horror movie ghost still hung around his house like a stalker.

Seriously, Ray once woke up to it staring at him from the window. That was really a bad way to start the day. Especially after he had screamed like a little girl when it's eye had fallen out.

Of course, the only reason why it hadn't entered his house could have been because his mother had the house blessed a while back...

Unfortunately, while it kept things _out,_ it also kept things _in._

Ray was unfortunately already resigned to the fact that the little terror living underneath his bed would never go away.

Ray broke out of his thoughts when he heard footsteps approaching. "Okumura Sensei!"

It was indeed his teacher, but he wasn't wearing his usual clothes. He was wearing a coat that looked some sort of uniform, and a strange pin was pinned to his jacket's lapel.

Call Ray weird, he could have sworn he had seen that pin somewhere before...

"Ri- Ray?" His teacher looked surprised. "What are you doing up at this hour?"

"I needed water." Ray replied with a shrug, before he caught sight of something.

"Okumura Sensei, you're bleeding!" True enough, blood was seeping through a tear on the jacket. Yukio blinked in surprise. He hadn't seen that...

He nearly groaned. Judging by how it looked, he was definitely going to feel that in the morning.

"It's fine," He dismissed it, ignoring how painfully similar Ray looked when Rin was worried. He'd clean the injury later, when Ray wasn't around.

But Ray just wouldn't back down. "Sensei Okumura, that doesn't look okay! It looks like something clawed you! You should get that looked at by a doctor."

"Ri- Ray, it's alright. I've had experience with this. I'll be fine." Yukio cursed under his breath for his repeated slipping up.

Still looking unconvinced, Ray grudgingly accepted this, but not before saying,

"You still need a doctor."

As he walked off, Ray swiped at what he thought was a large bug, since it was too dark to make out what it was.

Yukio could only stare in shock as he saw Ray swat away a Coal Tar.

"Rin..."

0o0

A month quickly passed, and Ray found himself quite settled at the school. For one, the students weren't complete assholes who'd pick a fight with him the first chance they got, before running to their parents, screaming bloody murder after Ray had throughly handed their asses to them.

Secondly, the lessons were not as boring as the ones back in America, even though Ray sometimes had trouble understanding what the teachers were talking about. Needless to say, the 'Japanese for Dummies' really came in handy.

Although, something did worry Ray, despite everything being seemingly fine. Over the course of the last few weeks, the number of those bug like creatures seemed to have increased from zero to over a hundred.

They weren't _everywhere_ , but considering how the school and been free of these creature no less than four weeks ago, the sudden increase in number was pretty alarming.

Ray sighed, absent-mindedly pulling at the grass that had been growing at the base of the tree he was leaning against as he enjoyed the evening air. He didn't know what was going with all the freaky things. Not only had they increased in numbers, they also seemed a tad bit more... active.

Really, they wouldn't stop _buzzing_ in his face! Ray was honestly considering getting a fly swatter by this point in time.

Losing his temper, Ray swiped at one of them, sending the bug creature careening to the side.

"Get LOST!" The bug creatures chittered frantically in an unknown language, backing away from Ray as though they feared his ire. Kuro, who had once again followed the teenager, meowed and nudged Ray's hand with his nose as a form of comfort.

The teenager leaned back, shutting his eyes as he enjoyed the absence of the annoying buzzing.

 ** _Young..._ _Master_...**

Ray's eyes snapped open, searching for the eerie voice that had spoken. Suddenly, the teenager wished that there when there were other people around, just so that if anything happened, someone would know what happened.

As it was, one of those creatures could easily jump him, and since there were no witnesses, no one would ever know what happened.

Kuro hissed, the fur on his back standing as he protectively stood in front of Ray, ready to defend the teenager against any threat.

Moments passed, and Ray began to wonder if he had even heard something at all. But Kuro...

He didn't get to finish that thought, as something dripped onto the back of his hand. Looking down, it was a dark, purplish liquid that was really starting to burn...

Gasping, Ray shot away from the tree he was resting beneath, just as a freaky looking... thing, dropped down from said tree, bringing several branches with it.

It honestly looked like it had dropped out of a horror movie, what with the decaying flesh that had been stitched together only by wire. Murky purple liquid dripped from the gaping hole that Ray assumed was the mouth.

"Wha- what the hell?!" He nearly shrieked, more than startled by the creature's sudden appearance. He had seen many creatures during the past fifteen years, but never had one been so hostile.

This definitely did not bode well.

Kuro gave a snarl, before the cat dashed forward with the intent of biting the horrifying creature.

"Kuro, no!" Ray cried out, a hand reaching out as though that would stop the cat from running to it's possible doom.

But said doom never happened. But what _did_ happen left Ray gaping, as well as wondering if he even got out of bed that morning.

A puff of smoke had concealed Kuro from view, and when the smoke dissipated, the small cat that Ray had gotten used to was gone, and in its place was a huge cat, way bigger than the teenager himself.

Kuro bit down on the corpse like creature, cutting it into two. Purple substance gushed out as the creature fell to the ground.

However, Ray's relief did not last. The creature's gashes sealed itself, _splitting_ into two _separate_ demons, one of which kept Kuro busy, while the other...

' _Oh come on-!_

Ray was very unceremoniously thrown against the tree that he been leaning against only minutes prior, and he didn't get the chance to even catch his breath before a strong grip held his throat, making breathing almost impossible.

The teenager choked, kicking his legs out as he tried to get the creature to relinquish it's hold on his throat, but to no avail.

 _He couldn't breathe-!_

 **"For... give... M...e... youn...g... Ma...ster... bu...t the... king..."** The creature rasped. Ray, as fogged as his mind was from the lack of air, barely registered this in his head as black splotches appeared in his vision.

 _Young... Master?_

A sharp crack filled the air, and the next thing he knew, Ray was one the ground, coughing as he filled his lungs with oxygen.

"Get away from him!" Looking up, one hand still on his bruised throat, Ray squinted his eyes to focus them. He nearly fell over in shock when he did see what made the creature let go of his throat.

Was that his teacher holding two pistols, firing away at the menace?

The teenager's mind blanked out, his head spinning from the everything that had just happened. How the hell had a peaceful evening gone down the drain so quickly?!

He didn't even notice it when his teacher had chased the creature away, or when Kuro had effectively destroyed the creature he was battling. It was only when his teacher had come up to him to check on him did Ray finally find words to speak.

"What the hell just happened?!"

 **[A/N So... I'm done with this chapter. I didn't go too fast, did I? I'm not particularly good at pacing my stories, and I really don't want to disappointl anyone...**

 **Well, I hope that this chapter was decent enough, so I guess I'll see you guys next time.**

 **Bye!**

 **~ Gwntan12 ]**


	5. Explanation

_"What the hell just happened?!"_

Yukio felt himself wince as Ray demanded answers. This was not going to be particularly enjoyable on his part...

The older man knew he couldn't simply lie about something that Ray had been witness to. After all, who was going to believe that everything had just happened, from the Naberius attack to the teenager being strangled, was a hallucination, or simply a bad dream?

The answer to that would be, no one with half a functional brain. If Yukio did lie, than there would be no way to explain the already forming bruise on Ray's throat, from where the Naberius had attempted to strangle him. And there was no way to explain why Kuro had suddenly grown to such a huge size. Thankfully, the Cat sidth seemed to read the mood, before he poofed back to his smaller form.

Yukio made up his mind. It'd be best if he truthfully explained everything to Ray. Well, not _everything._ He'd just explain what Ray needed to know and nothing else.

Maybe this time he'll be able to keep his brother away from his heritage...?

Yukio mentally slapped himself. He couldn't keep thinking that Ray was Rin. Rin was gone, and until Yukio could prove his theory of reincarnation, Ray would simply be Ray. An American student on an exchange programme with True Cross Academy.

Seeing the teenager's face that had an expression that clearly demanded an explanation _immediately_ , Yukio cleared his throat.

"That was a Naberius, a type of ghoul." He answered calmly, placing his guns back into their holster. "It's a demon."

"Demon?!" Ray gaped disbelivingly.

"Yes, demon. You can see them, can't you?" Yukio swatted away a Coal Tar, watching with slight amusement as Ray's eyes widened to almost comical proportions.

"Those are demons?!" He exclaimed, looking slightly scared as he brushed the Coal Tars away frantically, before another thought entered his mind. "Wait, just a thought, why do you have guns?! Aren't they, I don't know, _illegal_ on school property?"

Pushing his glasses up the bridge of his nose, Yukio responded. "I'm an Exorcist. It's my job to get rid of them if they're on the campus. And weapons are legal here in their for exorcism."

Ray was silent for a moment more, his hand gently touching his bruised throat before he spoke again. "Are they always this... hostile?"

"Quite a few of them are," Yukio ignored the stricken look on Ray's face. "But not all of them. Tell me, how long have you been able to see the demons?"

"... My whole life." Ray admitted, looking uncomfortable. "I always thought they were just hallucinations, since nothing ever happened..."

Yukio sighed, before he gestured for Ray to follow him. "You were lucky, then. Demons are usually provoked once they realise you can see them. Come on, you should get back to the dorm. It's getting late."

Ray didn't need to be told twice, hurrying after the man. "But what if it comes back? And why can't other people see them?"

"The dorms have wards on them, after a smilar incident happened a few years back. So you wouldn't have to worry about the Naberius returning." Hopefully. "And as for why other people can't see them, that would be because they don't have temptaints. Injuries inflicted by demons." He added the last part in after sone thought.

"Then, what about Kuro-"

"Kuro is Cat Sidth." Yukio didnt even need to hear the rest of Ray's question. "He guards the dorms, and since he's taken a liking to you, I doubt you'd be in much danger."

Ray seemed to accept this as he walked alongside Yukio, although he still sent some occasional glances towards the black cat that followed them.

Once the elder man had dropped the teenager off at the dorms with Kuro, Yukio made a beeline for another door before he pulled out a rather flamboyant looking key and inserted it into the lock, turning it with click.

Yes, he and the director were definately going to have another _long_ talk.

0o0

"Director Pheles," Even though he was the King of Time and the second most powerful demon king of the Baal, Mephisto couldn't help but twitch slightly at the downright demonic look on the younger Okumura's face.

How was Okumura Yukio the twin that _hadn't_ inherited any of their Father's powets?

"Ah, Okumura-kun!" Mephisto calmly said. "What brings you here?"

"Cut the crap, director." Yukio growled in a manner that was uncharacteristic for him. "You know why I'm here. Now, mind telling me _why exactly_ was there a Naberius on campus?"

The King of Time raised an eyebrow. "What makes you think I have anything to do with it?"

"You're in charge of all barriers surrounding the Academy. I highly doubt a Naberius could so easily waltz in without your knowledge." Yukio deadpanned.

He did have a point...

"Okumura-kun, there are a lot of area for me to cover, so I might have missed a spot." Mephisto easily countered. "Demons do occasionally sneak in, regardless of the presence of a barrier."

"Then, pray tell, why out of all the people it could have went after, it went after Rin-?!"

Mephisto let out a bark of laughter. "Oh, so this is what it's all about? You feeling bitter about _Ray Owens_ being attacked by a Naberius, since he looks so much like your _deceased_ brother?"

The King of Time emphasised on the word 'deceased', as well as the American's name, as if taunting Yukio with the fact that his twin had died years ago.

"You still feel guilt from being unable to prevent Okumura Rin's unforetunate demise, and now that someone else who looks just like your brother appears, you suddenly believe that it's your job to protect him, as you were unable to protect your brother?" Mephisto looked smug as Yukio tightly clenched his fists, knowing that he had struck the nail on the head.

Yukio's silence was more than enough to say that Mephisto had won this.

After the male left the office, Mephisto gave a satisfied smirk at the spot where Yukio had previously stood. He definitely wasn't going to admit to the younger that he did have a part in letting the Naberius in...

Even though he was no longer in charge of the chessboard, the King of Time couldn't deny that with his Father and brothers added into the equation, this game would be the most intriguing one that he had played in centuries.

0o0

Ray ran his fingers through Kuro's silky black fur, the Cat Sidth purring softly at gi side.

Even after the shocking revelation that the cat that had been following him around for the past few days was really a _demon_ , of all possible things (At least it explained the horns and the two tails), Ray couldn't bring himself to remain wary of the little cat.

Even though his 'little' status could change at the drop of a hat, or rather, a puff of smoke...

He picked up his phone, scrolling down his contacts page, reaching a number before his finger hovered over the call button.

Just a push of the button, and he'd be able to relay everything that had happened to his mother.

Just a push of the button...

He snapped the phone shut, shaking his head. Not yet. He didnt want to worry his mother just yet. Eventually, he'd tell his mother, that everything he'd seen during his childhood were actually _real_ , and not his imagination acting up.

He needed to know more first. About this whole other world that he'd known about, not actually _known_ about.

A whole other world existed beneath everyone's noses, and they weren't aware of it...

The thought of it actually freaked Ray out.

His teacher had told him that quite a few demons were hostile. How many had killed people, leaving their bloody murders as cold cases for the police? Better yet, _how could no one have noticed?_

Surely, if demons were as powerful as they seemed, they'd have a larger impact on the world, right?

He thought back to the ghost creature that was haunting the sidewalk directly outside of his house, and the black sludge that was using the space underneath his bed as a shelter. Despite being extremely creepy, they never actually tried anything.

Maybe most demons were weak, and the strong super powered ones were extremely rare?

Ray thought back to some mythology books he had (grudgingly) read a while back for English class.

Perhaps the powerful demons that had made an impact on the world, had been exorcised years ago, and since there was no way to prove that they had ever existed, accounts of the bloody carnage they brought on the world were passed off as myths created for entertainment's sake.

Ray tried not to shudder, but it did come out as a slight shiver. Kuro felt this, and meowed, nudging the teenager's side in a comforting manner.

The blue eyed teenager gave a small smile to the cat, scratching him behind the ears.

"Thanks for today, Kuro." The cat tilted his head to the side, as if wondering what Ray was thanking him for.

"For helping out with taking down that demon, I mean." Ray clarified. "If you weren't there, I don't know what could have happened, since you held it off for a few minutes before Okumura Sensei came. So... thanks."

Kuro seemed to beam with pride, meowing happily.

Just then, Ray caught sight of the clock. "Crap, it's late! And I still haven't got my homework done!"

And thus began the mad writing to finish his homework. He _knew_ he should have done his assignments before he went out.

0o0

When Yukio stopped by the Exorcist Shop to visit, Shiemi instantly noticed how _tired_ her friend was.

"Yuki-chan, are you alright?" She asked with concern, although Yukio sought to brush her concern off with a smile.

"I'm fine, Shiemi. It's just that..." He trailed off, not meeting her eyes. "One of my students, not a Cram School student, was attacked by a Naberius."

The female raised a hand up to her mouth to cover a silent gasp. "Is your student alright?"

Yukio nodded. "He is, but... apparently, he told me that he's been able to see demons for his entire life. I can't help but think about how it must have been like..."

Shiemi knew that even though Yukio hadn't mentioned it aloud, he was thinking about his own childhood, about how _afraid_ he had been when no one else could help him.

"And," He was talking again. "That student, he looks _just like_ Rin."

"Ray-san?!" Shiemi blurted out in shock, before she realised that she had spoken and blushed.

Yukio's eyes were wide. "You know him?"

Shiemi fidgeted where she stood, twidling her fingers. "Er, yes. I was delivering your last order when I tripped on the stairs and fell on him. He's an American, right?"

"Yes, he is." The male responded, hesitating slightly before he went on. "He... He may be... I don't know if it's true, but... He may be Rin..."

Seeing Shiemi's flabbergasted expression, Yukio hastily elaborated. "It's only an assumption, but when I checked the Kurikara, Rin's flames were back. And Director Pheles seems to know something..."

By now, it seemed that Shiemi's eyes were filling with tears. "Are you... certain?"

Yukio paused for a moment, before he spoke again. "Quite, but not entirely."

Wiping the tears away from her eyes, the female then clasped Yukio's hands, forcing a smile onto her face. "Yuki-chan, take care of him please!"

Her smile cracked slightly. "This time, I don't want him to hurt anymore, so watch out for him. Promise?"

This time, the younger Okumura twin didn't hesitate to reply. "Promise."

 **[A/N So that's done. I'm really sorry if Yukio was a little out of character at the last part, but I'm still not entirely sure how to write Yukio's character.**

 **Ray is still not an exorcist, as you guys can see. He just needs an additional little... push, if you catch my drift.**

 **Also, just saying, Izumo, Suguro, Konekomaru and Shima won't be appearing for a little while. Mainly because firstly, I can't think of a reason of why'd they'd still be in True Cross after fifteen years, seeing as how they still have responsibilities back home. Although, I'm still having trouble deciding how Izumo's going to come in...** **And secondly, it's also my way of procrastinating- I mean, prepping myself to write their characters by rewatching Blue Exorcist and observing their actions.**

 **Also, just saying, I don't think I'm going to make this either manga or anime verse, but it probably leans more towards Anime verse, with some manga aspects.**

 **Right now, I'm dreading writing the perspectives of the Demon Kings that have yet to appear...**

 **Well, I hope you guys enjoyed this chapter!** **Bye guys.**

 **~ Gwntan12 ]**


	6. Motivation

Ray hated school trips.

Well, 'hate' would be an understatement. More like he loathed them, despised them, and so on, with what ever other words that could be used to describe a a more severe word of 'hate'.

But even then, the words would still be an understatement of the blue eyed teenager's feelings towards school trips.

To be honest, it wasn't the school trip itself that Ray hated. No, in actuality, it was really the unforetunate incidents that occured during each one of these school trips, all of which somehow ended up affecting Ray in one way or another.

Like that one time during Elementary School when his class went to the zoo. One of Ray's classmates who had been standing next to him accidentally fell into the Dolphin tank, and it just so happened that when that student had grabbed the closest thing he could reach to stop his fall, that closest thing was Ray.

Ray learned from that experience that walking around in wet clothing was really uncomfortable, especially when the wet material stuck to your body.

Then there was that one incident a few years back which Ray did not like to remember, nor did he like to talk about it. The same went for the rest of his class.

The most he ever said about the matter was that it involved a student slipping, and a truck of cow dung.

Needless to say, whatever it was that had happened, no one ever managed to get the brown stains out of their shirts.

And those were just two such incidents that had occured during Ray's school trips. Hence the reason why Ray wasn't looking forward to the upcoming one.

Although, he had to wonder, do all high school trips only involve travelling just outside the school campus for a day to visit a museum? Because to Ray, that just seemed like a waste of time. And instead of school trip, they should have just called it a snooze fest.

He wasn't going to complain though. If it got him out of the classroom, and had little to no risk other than tripping over his own two feet, he really didn't care unless he somehow managed to break his neck whilst tripping over said feet.

He still wasn't looking forward to it though.

Although he _was_ mildly curious about how Tokyo was like, since he didn't have a chance to look around that much...

Which was why Ray was peering out of the window of the bus his class was seated on, awestruck as they moved along the city.

He did get a few strange looks from his classmates, but he ignored them.

The museum was actually quite a large place, and seemed quite old. The huge marble pillars made it seem quite grand, and Ray just wondered if that was considered an overkill.

As the class poured into the museum, chatting amongst themselves, Ray was about to join them before a hand fell on his shoulder. Looking up, he saw his teacher looking down at him.

"I'd advise you to keep away from anything that gives off a bad air, even though they may seem harmless," His teacher informed him. "Those might possibly be possessed by demons. If anything that shouldn't move moves, don't make eye contact with it and just inform me. But there shouldn't be anything hostile here, so don't worry about it too much."

"Okay, Okumura sensei."

Was it him, or did he see his teacher smile slightly, as if he was laughing at some inside joke?

"Good. Now get going." His teacher gave him a slight push towards the museum's doors, and Ray didn't need his teacher to tell him twice before he followed his class.

Why did it feel as if something was going to go horribly wrong?

(He would have said 'again', but... it felt as though things were going to be much worse than what happened at his other school trips.)

0o0

As some stuffy old museum guide droned on and on about some rusty relic that looked ready to fall to pieces at any second, Ray let his eyes trail over the glass cases with small plaques at the bottom, words neatly imprinted into them explaining the history of the objects the glass cases contained.

It was actually a little scary how his teacher had implied that anything here might have some demonic influence over them.

He bit his lip. That... wasn't the most pleasant of thoughts.

Of course, Ray wpuld still take the possibly possessed relic over the Naberius creature that had attacked him only a few days prior. He still thanked his lucky stars that Kuro was with him.

Although, he wished he could have brought the little cat with him to the museum. It would have brought him some comfort to have a little protection provided by the cat sidhe that liked him so much.

He still didn't know why Kuro liked him so much though...

Noticing that his class was moving already, Ray trailed after the group, shuddering as he passed one mask that looked like it was cursed or something, what with that creepy smile.

Was it normal for Japanese masks to look so damn creepy?

"Hey, let's ditch and look at the cool stuff, not this ancient crap!" Turning his head, Ray found himself looking at those who could only be described as the 'delinquents' of the class.

While Ray was a bit of delinquent himself (He got into fights every other week. Nothing more said.), he certainly didn't go out of his way to look like one. These guys seemed to _want_ people to know that they were nost probably the unsavoury characters of their class, what with their dyed hair, piercings and their untidy uniform.

The group of rebellious teenagers broke away from the group to do their own things, Ray hastily cast a glance at the direction of his teacher, who had yet to notice anything since he was in a discussion with another teacher who was helping to chaperone the class.

Weighing his options, Ray decided to quietly tail the group that had broken away. He didn't actually know what drove him to that decision, but he later supposed that it was just his knack for trouble making speaking.

Plus, the guy speaking was really boring. He needed something interesting.

And he wondered _why_ he kept ending shoulder deep in situations that would take himself forever to get out of.

Patting his pocket to ensure that his phone was there (His teacher had given his number in case something demon related happened, and Ray needed help), the blue eyed teenager quietly followed the group that had broken away.

With the museum being nearly empty due to it having just opened up for the day, Ray could clearly hear his shoes echo off the polished ground. He hated the silence. And he hated how damn _heavy_ the air seemed to be getting.

It was almost like that time with the Naberius-

He stopped dead in his tracks. This heaviness in the air... he it felt as though it's malevolent presence was weighing down on him, as if trying to make it's presence known.

 _Oh shit!_

Ray began walking again, two steps becoming three as he moved down the emoty hallways, the air seemingly getting thicker as he moves closer to the source.

He could hear the voices of the delinquents just around the corner clearly now, laughing at something Ray couldn't see from where he was.

While the delinquent group was made up of people Ray called bullies, since they tended to steal their classmates' belongings just for the fun of watching them panic, as well as making others the targets of cruel pranks, Ray was _not_ about to let a stray demon hurt them.

Despite the fact that he did not know how to exorcise demons, and he was probably going to get himself killed in the process.

He probably should have called his teacher, but the thought didn't even to occur to him. His only thought was to get the delinquents out of there as soon as possible, preferably before someone got injured.

He found the delinquents poking fun at an old Samurai armour, that looked a little silly because of the fake moustache it sported at the helmet. While Ray might have laughed on a normal day, he definately wasn't laughing now, since all that heavy air seemed to originate from the armour. Not to mention that there seemed to be some sort of black mist that was seeping from the helmet where the mouth would be.

Okay, that was worrying.

When one of the teenagers, most probably the leader, started poking the armour with his finger, Ray stepped in.

"Hey! Stop doing that!" The delinquents, realising that the person who had found them out was only Ray, relaxed, believing that said person couldn't do anything to stop them.

"Oh, it's only the exchange student." The leader of the group laughed, leaning against the armour as if to mock the American. "So, what are you gonna do to stop me? Eat hamburgers and recite America's Declaration of Independence?"

Feeling his eye twitch at the sterotype (Who the hell even does the aforementioned sterotype?), Ray bit back the urge to insult the other's person.

"Look, just stop touching that armour! It's not going to be good for your health if you don't!" Somehow, that didn't come out right, and apparently, that was what the opposite party thought as well.

The leader narrowed his eyes and bared his teeth furiously.

"Was that a threat?" He hissed, taking a menacing step forward. Oh well, at least he wasn't touching the possessed armour anymore.

"No, it wasn't! Now just get away from that armour!" Ray was really beginning to wish that he had just called his teacher about the demon. It would have made things so much easier.

"You don't tell me what to do!" Ray wouldn't remember much from what happened next.

He vaguely recalled a knuckle colliding with his cheekbone, pain blinding him temporarily as he staggered backwards from the force of the punch, dazed as he spat out blood.

Then he heard the screech of metal, the heavy feeling in the air nearly choking him as he heard the delinquents scream something incoherent.

As the teenager regained his sight, he realized that most of the delinquents had already fled, something which Ray was grateful for, save for the leader, who was unconcious and foaming at the mouth.

Then something else caught his eye. The arnour, _yes the armour that no one was wearing,_ was _moving_ , a sleek katana in its hand.

A deep rumbling echoed from the inside of the armour, the katana hanging from its hand before it shifted to stab the fainted delinquent.

Yeah, he definitely should have called Okumura sensei.

Ray dove for the unconcious teenager, shoving the prone body out of the way as the sword barely missed the American, only nicking his cheek.

Blood dripped from the cut, and Ray hissed in pain before he quickly dragged the delinquent out of the way, and pulled out his cell phone.

Well, better late than never.

 _"Okumura speaking."_

"Uh... Okumura Sensei?" Ray winced as he barely ducked under a sword strike. "I have a little situation over here."

 _"Over here- Aren't you over here- wait, where are you?!"_ Ray made a small 'eep' sound at the teacher's tone. "Well, I probably should have informed you earlier, but I got a little distracted, and so there's this demon armour thing that is hostile, and trying to _kill_ me _\- waaugh_!"

The last part was cut off as he tripped over a small piece of deberis on the ground, landing flat on his face.

He was pretty sure he heard his teacher mutter something that like, 'Just like Rin.' before he hung up.

Ray didn't get to ponder on this for a moment longer, as the katana narrowly missed his ear.

"Shit!" Scrambling away, the teenager bit his lip as he tried to think of ways to disarm the armour before someone got hurt, and before he got limb lobbed off or something.

When he spotted a shield, a metaphorical lightbulb lit up above his head.

Diving for the shield, he grabbed ahold of it, and prepared to perform what could possibly be one of the riskiest things he had ever done during the fifteen years of his life, since he may potentially anger the demon.

Ray knew he was strong, so he used that to his advantage for his plan.

He flung the shield like a frisbee at the suit of armour, clattering echoing through the hallways in the noisest way possible as the arnour broke apart and the pieces flew everywhere.

Personally, Ray still found it surprising that no one came running to see what the hell was causing all that racket.

Releasing a breath he hadn't even known that he had been holding, Ray felt the adrenaline that had been coursing through his body leave him.

He hadn't even known he was this exhausted...

Throwing his head back, he let a chuckle escape his throat. He did it. He stopped the demon.

A clank of metal from behind made him freeze in his tracks.

Ray threw himself to the side, the gauntlet that held onto the katana flying past him. A sickening squelch met his ears as the blade of the katana dug into something.

Or should he say, _someone_?

He was careless. He forgot for a moment that demons were supernatural beings that he had no way of knowing what they were capable of.

Ray could smell the metallic scent of blood in the air. He didn't need to look to know what had happened.

Crimson bled into his pupils unknowingly.

He had failed.

0o0

Yukio felt like cussing. He should have been more through in his inspection of the museum beforehand. He had missed one demon, just one, and look what happened.

One severely injured student with a punctured lung (who was thankfully going to survive after treatment), about five students still believing that some malevolent ghost was going to kill them for angering it, and lastly one student who had just been traumatised for the second time in a few days days.

While these sort of things came with the job of being an Exorcist, it didn't mean that he liked it, nor did it mean that he didn't wish that these things weren't on his job description.

And this was all caused by a low level demon, of all things. This was so not worth it.

"Okumura sensei," Yukio looked down to see Ray looking back up at him. "That demon... It wasn't what you'd call a high level, right?"

Yukio blinked in surprise, before he realized that the American must have heard him saying something like that while he was speaking with his colleague.

"It wasn't." He admitted.

"And yet I couldn't do anything...!" Ray didn't finish his sentence.

The silence between them was almost suffocating, until Ray broke it once more.

"Okumura sensei, if someone was to learn Exorcism, where would they go?"

Yukio stared at Ray, a sinking feeling in his gut. Even as he spoke, he just knew where this was going. "Why do you want to know?"

"I don't want to be useless like this anymore. I've been scared of these things my entire life, and I'm sick of it! I'll become an Exorcist, and kick these demons' asses back to where they came from!"

Yukio could only feel the horror bubbling up in him.

 **[A/N Why do I feel as though I'm rushing things too much? Am I going too fast? I feel that I wrote this chapter decently, but I still feel as though I just disappointed someone. Crud. I did, didn't I? I'M SO SORRY!**

 **Well, if I did go too fast, I'll post a chapter between this one and the previous one, and see how that turns out.**

 **Ah, Satan and the Baal are probably going to be very annoyed that Rin- uh, I mean Ray is going to be an Exorcist. Again.**

 **Whelp, more drama for me to write, I guess.**

 **Thanks for reading!**

 **~ Gwntan12 ]**


	7. Cram School

**[Pre chapter A/N Just a warning here. I realised that no matter how much I despise OCs, they are unavoidable in this story. Mainly because it's been fifteen years, so there was bound to be new cram school students, so I had to put them there to make the story more realistic. I sincerely apologise for the OCs, and feel free to unfollow this story if you hate the story now. Critcism for the OCs are accepted. Also, they technically aren't mine. I just changed their names because the original owner requested I do that. If you do recognise their personalities, hats off to you. You've just made a certain Wattpad and Fanfiction user who writes Sci-fi very happy.]**

Ray looked down at the simple, silver key in his hand disbelievingly. Director Faust couldn't possibly be _serious._ Honestly, the teenager was wondering if the eccentric man who dressed like a clown had a few screws loose.

Oh wait... he probably did have a couple of screws loose. No sane person would willingly walk around in what the Director wore on a daily basis.

After that incident with the possessed armour, his teacher had, albeit reluctantly for some reason, directed his request to join Exorcism school to Director Faust who was delighted to hear this for another reason that was once again unknown to Ray.

The Director had later poofed into existence next to Ray right after the teenager's regular classes, giving him a mini heart attack.

How the did he even teleport? Ray would be plagued with that question for the rest of the day.

After being given some instructions on where to go, the Director had simply handed him a simple silver key and told him to use it whenever his Exorcist classes were in session, before disappearing in a poof of pink smoke and sparkles.

 _Pink smoke and sparkles_..? Ray had found himself thinking, bewildered by the appearance of said things.

As if that was the most important thing in the world.

Moving on, Ray still did not understand the Director's instructions involving the key, no matter how simple it may have seemed.

 _"Just use that key on any door, and you'll get to the Cram school~!"_

"Any door... huh...?" Ray muttered to himself, looking back down at the key in his hand, before he decided to try it anyway, no matter how strange the instructions were.

Which was why he was standing outside of the dorms, key in hand, wondering if Director Faust was really just messing with him, or if the key actually did as he said it would.

"Here goes nothing." Ray inserted the key into the keyhole, before he turned it easily, much to his surprise. Weren't all keyholes different?

Pushing open the door, Ray felt his jaw hit the ground.

This was definitely _not_ how the dorms looked like. The dorms didn't have high ceilings, nor were they so clean, with the walls polished and coloured with greens, yellows and reds.

"W-woah..." Ray gaped, taking a step back. "He really wasn't kidding about the key."

He stepped into the unfamilar hallway, closing the door behind him as he took in his surroundings with poorly concealed awe and fascination.

He pinched himself, before he winced at the sharp pain. Nope, he was definitely not dreaming, and probably not hallucinating. This was real.

If someone had told Ray a few months ago that he'd be standing in the hallway of an Exorcist school, apparently having arrived by a magic key, he'd have asked what had the other party been smoking.

Unforetunately for him, Ray didn't have any more time to admire his surroundings, as the alarm he had set on his watch went off, signaling that he only had five minutes to find his class before he was late.

Looking down the extremely long corridor with doors on both sides, Ray felt like curling up in the corner and having a mini meltdown.

Class had yet to even start, and Ray already had his work cut out for him. That, being searching for his classroom that was somewhere in the door filled hallway with a pathetically short time limit of five minutes.

Oh wait, make that four minutes.

Today was just not his day.

0o0

Somehow, the American teenager was able to locate his classroom in a matter of three and a half minutes, leaving him a spare thirty seconds to catch his breath and pat himself on the back for not being late on the first day of class.

"Are you alright? That was one heck of a mad dash into the classroom!" An enthusiastic voice came from Ray's right, making him turn his head.

A male, who seemed to be about Ray's age, was looking at the aforementioned teenager with a smile, still throughly entertained by his panicked run. His hair was a dark shade of brown, almost black, and was windswept, as though he had just flown a jetplane with the windows wide open. His eyes were coloured as his hair was.

All in all, he was pretty normal for a typical Japanese person.

"Uh... yeah? I'm fine." Ray awkwardly rubbed the back of his neck. Great. He forgot that there would be other people in the class, and would therefore be witness to Ray's embarrassing entrance to the classroom. What a _great_ first impression to the five people already present in the classroom.

The other male laughed, bouncing in his seat like an over excited child. "Anyway, my name's Daku Aiba What's yours?"

"Ray Owens."

"Ohhhhh, so you're an American, huh?"

"Take your seats and quiet down, please. Class is in session." Yukio unknowingly interrupted the conversation as he stepped into the classroom, shutting the door behind him.

As the chattering in the class died down, the man dropped the reference books onto the desk in the front of the classroom before turning to address the potential Exorcists.

"I am Okumura Yukio, and I am your Anti-Demon Pharmaceuticals instructor." He smiled in a friendly way. "And I will now take attendence. Chi Risuta?"

A female with short, light brown hair with some clipped to the side of her head with a cat shaped clip raised her hand, before promptly getting distracted by a random Coal Tar that floated past her head. Judging from how mature she looked, one would assume she was about eighteen years old.

"Tadashi Tekku?" A serious looking male with black hair and equally dark eyes raised his hand. He appeared to be around the same age as Chi Risuta.

"Elleno Kazano?" This time, it was blond male (whose hair looked like it had been messily dyed into said colour), and he was fiddling with what look like a... coffee machine? He looked to be about sixteen.

"Daku Aiba?" Daku raised his hand.

"*COUGH COUGH* Caller?" Someone chose that moment to cough very loudly, preventing everyone from hearing the mentioned student's name. Caller, since no one knew what to call him, appeared to be the oldest of the potential Exorcists, looking to be about nineteen years old. His hair was the same shade as Tadashi's, but the resemblance stopped there. Mainly because Caller was snoring away at his desk, facedown to the desk.

Their teacher made a face akin to something similar to resignation, before he walked up to the sleeping male, dropping a heavy textbook on the desk right next to Caller's head.

"Whuh?" His head shot up from the table as he was rudely awakened, blinking, before he finally registered Yukio's presence.

"Please refrain from sleeping in my lesson." Yukio stated in a flat tone.

"Yes sir." Caller intoned with little interest, making the teacher's eye twitch, but nothing more than that.

"Moving on," Yukio cleared his throat. "As you all know, you'll be training to be Exorcists. Exorcists don't have an easy job. It's either you're stronger, or the demon is stronger and then you're shipped to morgue in pieces." He said all this while smiling, as though what he had just said was a common occurance.

Ray was honestly beginning to think that Exorcist training wasn't one of his smarter ideas.

0o0

"So... why the coffee machine?" Ray attempted to make conversation with one of his classmates, the one with the coffee machine, while waiting for the next teacher to arrive.

The blond blinked, before he smirked in a way that sent shivers up Ray's spine. "Oh, this isn't mine. It belongs to one of my room mates back at the school dorms. He is going to flip when he figures out that it's missing."

"Sir, isn't that Kleff's coffee machine?" Caller suddenly cut into the conversation, seemingly popping out of nowhere.

Elleno groaned. "God damn it, Sir Caller, would you _stop_ calling me _sir_?!"

"Yes Ma'am." Sir Caller, as Elleno had dubbed him, replied seriously.

 _*THWACK!*_

"Sir, you need not have slapped me so hard. I only felt it a tiny little bit."

"BURN!" Daku hollered from the other side of the classroom, blasting air horns that he supposedly got off the internet whilst laughing, while Ray felt bewildered by how quickly the conversation had switched from the intial inquiry about a coffee machine.

Did Exorcism and craziness come hand in hand, or something? Or was it just this batch of potential Exorcists?

"Where did you get those from?!"

"Are you illiterate?"

The blue eyed teenager promptly returned to his seat, before allowing his forehead to thump against the desk.

0o0

Ray hated tests. Hated them with a fiery passion even. They were his sworn enemy that mocked him, and even though Ray came out victorious in most of the fights he either accidentally initiated, or had been provoked into, this was the one enemy he was never able to defeat.

His mother had once told him that if he worked hard enough, he would come out on top.

The bold red mark on his test paper that clearly stated a five upon a hundred seemed to say otherwise.

Daku comfortingly patted the dejected American's back while holding his own paper with a single digit, which was a number that resembled an egg.

"Don't worry! You have a few marks! Unlike me who has nada marks!" Daku was far more happy than he should have been with the marks, or the lack of thereof, that he had recieved.

Meanwhile, Yukio found it harder to doubt that the teenager that so closely resembled his brother in more ways than one was in fact Rin's reincarnation.

Their test scores were nearly identical in the fact that both were way below average.

Honestly, Yukio had no idea if he should have been pleased, or lamenting the fact that he once again had to cringe at the blatantly wrong test answers while marking, much like he had done when he had been marking Rin's test papers fifteen years ago.

Apparently, whatever type of student one was in their past life also crossed over into the next, which was just sad.

However, the remaining Okumura twin did take comfort in the fact that Ray didn't actually score the lowest in the class, even though that did not change the fact that score on the teenager's test paper was bad, even by the lowest of the lowest standards.

How was it even remotely possible to score a five out of a hundred on a test about safety guidelines, much less a zero?! This sort of thing was common sense!

Then again, if Ray was anything like Rin...

Yukio let out a sigh and let his shoulders droop. He really needed a drink. Again. And he probably should start stocking up on Aspirin, because he had a feeling that he was going to need more than he usually did for the next few months.

"Sir, I must insist that you put the scissors down and cease your glares towards me because it is childish, and quite franky, immature."

"Damn it Sir Caller, you _don't_ even pay _attention_ in class, how the _hell_ did you get a hundred and five on this test?!"

"Sir, I am _fabulous_."

Yukio's point had just been proven.

 **[A/N So this chapter was actually meant to be a little more serious that it is now, but it just sort of escalated once I put in the comedic elements.**

 **Once again, I am sorry about the OCs, and I understand if this story seems less appealing now. I know how annoying it is to see OCs in fanfiction. I don't plan on them playing too big a role in the story though. They're mostly there to keep the story somewhat realistic, move the plot along, and provide the comedy that the cast of Blue Exorcist is unable to provide.**

 **The badass stuff should come in soon, as well as Exorcist missions once these guys get promoted to Exwires. Or was it Esquires? Oh well.**

 **Well, thanks for reading, and hopefully you guys will still be here for the next chapter, that is, if you haven't already run off screaming in disgust.**

 **~ Gwntan12 ]**


	8. Meisters

The Koumaken was brighter than it had been a few days ago. Yukio was forced to accept that as he resheathed the blade.

As it was, there was hardly any doubt that the flames sealed within Kurikara would regain it's former glory within the next six months or so.

And it scared him.

Yukio had already seen traces of crimson bleed into Ray's pupils when he was emotionally distressed, or simply just angered.

What would happen, if instead of something mild such as the reddening of pupils that could be easily overlooked, Ray released blue flames in a fiery bout of emotion?

The Vatican would come down hard on Ray with the hammer they deemed as 'justice' once more, and there would be no way for Yukio to protect him. Ray would be executed for something he was blameless for.

He picked up a small framed photograph. A single moment, captured on film, freezing a happy image in time.

Rin had been so happy...

How had everything fallen apart?

Yukio sat down, hugged the framed photograph to his chest, and cried.

0o0

 _Just hand yourself over to the Vatican. Or better yet- Just die!"_

 _Blue flames devoured everything._

 _"Why are you laughing?!"_

 _"You can trust us!"_

 _A faceless figure stood at the edge, a smile that seemed broken only disappearing when the figure's mouth moved._

 _"They lied."_

 _Then, he fell._

Ray shot up from his bed, gasping, cold sweat beading at his brow. His heart hammered in his chest, the adrenaline still pumping from the sensation of falling in his dream. Kuro softly padded to the side of Ray's bed, meowing softly before jumping up.

"Just a dream," Ray took in a few deep breaths as Kuro nudged him with his nose in a comforting manner. "Just a dream."

Glancing to the side, the teenager nearly had a heart attack when he realised how late it was. Flinging the covers off his person and scaring Kuro, he practically flew to get ready for school.

"I'M LATE!"

Just another normal day.

0o0

This time, Ray was late for class, and ended up having to serve detention to pay for his lateness, ultimately resulting in him _nearly_ being late for Cram School.

He resolved to set five alarm clocks the next time, because apparently, it was possible for Ray to sleep through one ringing right next to his head.

"Bad day, huh?" Daku asked, still cheerfully smiling as Ray slumped down into his seat.

"You have no idea." He groaned. "First I get a horrible dream, and then I find out I'm late for regular school. Then one of my crazy teachers throws a piece of chalk at my head for falling asleep in class, then I have detention, and finally, I'm almost late for Cram School."

Elleno, who was sitting nearby, chose to cut in at this point, not allowing Daku to speak, which made him pout childishly. "Everyone has nightmares, or some crazy ass dream at some point. Like how I had the strangest dream that I was on an alien planet captaining a space ship that was firing giant freaking space lasers."

Sir Caller suddenly piped up. "What a coincidence, sir. I had the same dream, and you were in it too."

"Really? What was I doing?"

"You were freezing to death, sir."

"...Uh huh, how cold of you."

"Quiet down please," Yukio entered the classroom, carrying a small bunch of papers under his arm. "Today, we'll be going over your choice of Meisters, and from there, you'll determine which you would like to take."

"Uh..." Ray leaned over to Daku. "What are Meisters?"

"That's a really easy question, and I'm pretty sure I could answer it if I knew the answer and could be bothered to answer." He answered in a chipper voice, nearly making Ray fall off his seat.

"Since some of you might not know what Meisters are as you have not read the guide book that I _know_ I _assigned_ as _homework_..."

Ray ducked down, trying to escape the pointed look sent at his direction.

"Meisters are the most basic qualifications for an Exorcist to receive. There are Dragoons, Tamers, Knights, Doctors, and finally, Arias. So today, we'll be giving all of you a test run to see which you would like to take as your Meister for your upcoming exam."

Yukio pushed his glasses up the bridge of his nose. "It is possible to take up two Meisters, but do note that it takes a lot of hard work on your part."

When no one said anything, Yukio continued. "I will be supervising for the Dragoon Meister as the usual instructor is currently in the hospital due to an accident, so please come this way."

As they moved to the training grounds for the Dragoons, Ray asked Tadashi, who happened to be walking next to him, a quick question. Mainly because he just knew that Daku would be no help at all.

"What's a Dragoon?"

"Good riddance, I don't know."

... Apparently, so was Tadashi.

Chi slapped the aforementioned male on the back of his head. "Tadashi! I went over this already!"

"Ow!" The male grumbled, rubbing the back of his head. "You don't have to slap me so hard!"

"That's what she s-!" Daku was unable to finish that sentence as a shoe hit him in the face, courtesy of Chi.

"... Nevermind." Ray inched away. He probably should have just read the textbook and saved himself the trouble.

Fortunately, the class managed to get to the training grounds without too much trouble, aside from a few minor squabbles.

Yukio turned back to face the group of potential Exorcists, picking up a hand held gun, similar to the one he carried, off the large selection of weaponry.

"As you all _should_ know, Dragoons use weapons such as guns, bazookas, and so on. So today, you will all be- Caller-san, would you _kindly_ put that machine gun down?

Sir Caller, who was grinning sheepishly, put the M-60 down on the ground next to him.

Yukio cleared his throat. "As I was saying, you all will be learning how to fire some of the weapons for experience- Caller-san, put that bazooka down. Now."

"Which one, sir?"

"Both of them." Yukio's eye was beginning to twitch.

Caller's shoulders slumped slightly in disappointment, before he did as he was told.

"Being a Dragoon requires a lot of practice. Sometimes in battle whether or not you hit your target could determine whether you survive. Discipline is needed as well, and I'm sure most of you are capable of this, _except_ Caller-san over there who appears to be turning into a tank."

"Joy killer..." Said person put the variety of cannons that he was holding down as he grumbled.

"Is he always like this?" Ray turned to Elleno, who was in the middle of a facepalm.

"Unfortunately, yes." He deadpanned.

"Caller-san, out. Now. And put those down."

"Aww..."

0o0

Aside from Sir Caller's numerous interruptions throughout the lesson, the lesson itself went smoothly.

Ray had to admit that being a Dragoon would be pretty awesome, except it just didn't seem right for him. Like a nagging feeling at the back of his head that whispered that being a Dragoon wasn't for him, no matter how cool it was.

A few of his classmates actually decided immediately that being a Dragoon suited them. Them, being Tadashi, Elleno, and unfortunately for some, Sir Caller.

When the latter had openly stated his desire to become a Dragoon, Ray was sure he had seen their teacher muttering a quick prayer beneath his breath which was something about blessing whoever was the poor soul that would assigned to teach them.

In the course of the next four hours, the class went through the remaining Meisters that were available.

For the Doctor Meister, Yukio had asked the blond female that Ray had recognized as Shiemi for assistance as she ran a Pharmacy and therefore was well versed in every medical herb there was.

Ray was a little nervous through the whole class, mainly because he had noticed that Shiemi had kept glancing at him, no matter how discreet she had tried to be.

Did he just royally screw up with the herb he was trying to grind?

Forty five minutes later, it turned out that pretty much the entire class was rubbish at being a Doctor since their medicine preparing skills were pathetic at best, save for Chi who had somehow managed to perfectly prepare hers. Her adept skills at preparing medicine on the fly was definately an up from her less than average shooting skills during the previous class.

For the Tamer Meister, no one actually managed to summon anything, so in other words, the whole affair was a complete waste of time and effort. The latter mainly because Daku had somehow managed to spill ink onto all the summoning papers, resulting in the class having to redraw the circles after more paper had been fetched. That was one hour of their lives that they were not getting back, no thanks to Daku.

For the Aria Meister, all though they all had classes for it as a basic skill, the Meister was actually tougher. For one, not all the verses were in English. No, they had them in every possible language, some of which Ray had not even heard of before in his entire life.

It was official, he had decided. Anyone with an Aria Meister was definitely not human. How was it even possible for anyone to memorize everything?

Although, that probably made Daku some supernatural being, since he was somehow capable of being a textbook, despite what one might have thought because of his usual behaviour.

Finally, the last Meister was the Knight Meister. By this point, Ray was seriously considering taking the Dragoon Meister if the Knight Meister didn't feel right to him.

He didn't have to worry about it though. When he picked up one of the practice swords, he was hit with a wave of nostalgia. As though he had held a sword before and fought with it.

Something didn't feel right though. While the sword in his seemed correct somehow, it was the sword itself that didn't seem right. As though... Ray should have held a different sword.

 _"This_ _the Kurikara, the Demon Slaying blade_

Ray winced as a headache hit him. What the hell was that? It sounded like static from an old radio or something. He thought he heard some words too...

He groaned, putting the sword down. Fantastic. All this Exorcist stuff must be making him go nuts.

Although, he did wonder about what he had heard in his head, about why it seemed so familar.

What was the Kurikara?

And who said that?

0o0

"I see... Father won't interfere for now." Mephisto took a sip of his tea as he propped his feet up on his desk.

"Yes. He said it was because the last two times pushed little brother to want to be an Exorcist." Amaimon popped a lollipop into his mouth as he said this in his usual bored manner. "He's waiting for little brother to awaken by himself now."

"Anything else?"

"Father says to look after little brother, or else." Mephisto honestly didn't know how Amaimon could say things like these with a straight face, as though he was just talking about the weather.

"I will keep that in mind." The Demon King of Earth didn't say anything else after that, choosing to leave the office having conpleted his task.

Mephisto closed his eyes as he rested his chin on the palm of his hand.

He already knew what the or else meant. The King of Gehenna wasn't referring to him in that threat.

The Exorcists had better watch out, lest they have another Blue Night on their hands.

 **[A/N So... I'm done being lazy and sat down and wrote this. Well, I wasn't being entirely lazy. I was actually trying to plan out** **where this story was going to go. And also, if you're worried that the OCs may take over tge story, have no fear. I don't intend on them appearing much after they actually become Exorcists. They will still be mentioned in passing, or make small cameos, but other than that, the story still focuses on Ray.**

 **Also, if it wasn't already obvious, the demons are not the antagonists in this story. I always found the Vatican annoying, despite them trying to protect humanity. Then again, they would willingly sacrifice humanity for the sake of... humanity? Uh... that doesn't make sense.**

 **Anyway, did anyone see the latest chapter of Blue Exorcist?**

 **Yukio, noooo... T_T.**

 **R.I.P Yukio's mental state.**

 **And, for some reason, I now have a headcannon that in actuality, the reason as to why Yukio's eyes protect him is actually due to Satan's influence, and not because Yukio inherited the flames, since the latest manga chapter just sort of proved it to me.**

 **By the way, the OCs are from my brother's story on Wattpad. His story is called NanoTec, if you want to read it. He's been really helpful with the characters.**

 **Anyway, thanks for reading!** **~ Gwntan12]** [Omake]

"So, in order to summon something, first you need blood-"

Sir Caller raised his hand. "Sir, do we not require summoning circles for this?"

The older man with long, white spikey hair clad in red and carrying a large scroll on his back made a sound similar to a "Pshh!"

"Who needs paper? Anyway, as I was saying before I was interrupted, you need your own blood. Then, you perform the needed handsigns. Then this; Summoning Jutsu!"

Now standing atop a large red toad that appeared to be smoking a pipe, the older man waved. "Now I have some research to do!"

As the dust from the new hole in the wall cleared, Ray made a face.

"Okay, what the hell just happened?"

"Ten bucks that wasn't our teacher." Daku suddenly said.

"Wha-" Ray began, but was cut off as the door to the classroom was opened.

"Good morning, I am your- What on earth happened here?!"

"Ten bucks." Daku said smugly, holding out his hand while Ray wept the loss of his money.

[Omake End]


	9. Esquire Certification Exam

"Esquire Certification Exam?" Ray squinted at the print, reading it.

As silly as it was he still had trouble reading Japanese even after two and a half months in Japan. Fortunately, he didn't really need the 'Japanese for Dummies' book anymore.

He blinked, realising what he had just thought to himself. Had it really almost been three months?

"What, are you blind?" Sir Caller asked, cutting into Ray's train of thought.

"Excuse me for not being Japanese." The blue eyed teenager grumbled, shooting a look at the male.

"Sir, with all due respect, I'm German."

"Ah."

"As you all can see," Their glasses wearing teacher was speaking again. "The Esquire Authorization Exam is coming up soon."

Ah, so Ray had read the form incorrectly.

"There will be a week long study camp in preparation of this test, so please fill in the necessary details, as well as pick the Meister you wish to take. All of you should now know what each Meister entails, so I trust that you all will be able to choose wisely according to your skills."

As the class finished filling in their forms, without any distractions for once, Yukio spoke again.

"Now that you all have finished, I want to go over something important. That is teamwork. As you can see, Exorcists work in teams, or at the very least, pairs. This allows for a higher success rate on missions, and at times, reduces the risk of death."

Yukio pushed his glasses up the bridge of his nose, light glinting off the lenses. "Keep this in mind. Every year, I have students who fail to understand this, and I do hope this year will be different."

A bell from somewhere in the Cram School rang, the sound echoing throughout th entirety of the school as the sound reverbrated through the hallways.

"Class dismissed. Please remember to come for the study camp."

0o0

Ray put down his pen, before he leaned back and stretched, his muscles feeling sore after he had spent the last two hours studying for whatever was going to be thrown at him during the study camp that was going to take place the next day.

"Ugh, I need a break..." Getting up, the teenager made his way to the outside of the dorms. Kuro apparently wasn't around for the time being since the Cat sidth had gone off somewhere.

Ray stepped out of the building, enjoying the fresh air that was a good change fron the musty air in the dorm, and was not even outside for more than three minutes exactly when a jeep, yes, a _jeep_ of all possible things, literally flew overhead and landed a few centimeters away from the shocked teenager.

"Aw, they're all tuckered out? I must not have been going fast enough!" An extremely familiar voice sighed.

"Daku?!" True enough, Ray's fellow Cram School classmate sat in the driver's seat of the jeep, with Chi and Tadashi passed out in the back seat.

Judging by how both of them were nearly foaming at the mouth, as well as how they were twitching ever couple seconds or so, Ray figured out they must have fainted from whatever ridiculous speed Daku was driving at.

"Oh, hey Ray!" Daku waved, a large grin on his face. "I was taking these lazy guys out for a ride as a completely useless teamwork building experience that we're probably never going to use much, since Okumura sensei told us Exorcists need teamwork to work well together!"

"How does driving like a complete, utter, mad man with us passed out in the backseat constitute as 'teamwork'...?" Tadashi groaned as he regained consciousness from the trauma he had just experienced via high speed road trip.

"Dunno, but who cares? Anyway, wanna join us?"

"Uh..."

"That question was rhetorical." Ray made a small 'eep' noise that he would later deny, not liking the glint in Daku's eyes at all.

0o0

"So..." Yukio pushed his glasses up the bridge of his nose, his eye twitching with irritance as he spoke, trying to ignore the jeep that had been crashed through the wall of the Cram School. "Aiba-san, care to explain _this_?"

In his hand, Yukio held out a long roll of paper which held the large bill for that day's damages to the city, as well as a huge food bill.

"You said Exorcists need teamwork to work well together. So I took a few of my classmates for a nice, calm drive to do so." Daku turned to the two barely conscious, one passed out, Exorcist candidates. "Right, guys?"

"Again, I reiterate," Tadashi moaned from his position on the ground. "How does you driving like a complete lunatic constitude as teamwork building...?!"

"Never again am I getting in a vechicle with you in the driver's seat...!" Ray promptly threw up in a nearby dustbin, looking a little greener than it should have been possible.

"Aw, come on!" Daku complained as a building collapsed in the distance, another casualty from the day's events. "You didn't even eat lunch! I did, but I didn't hurl. What's your excuse for throwing up?"

Yukio sighed, muttering something about every student understanding being wishful thinking before turning back to the most probably insane teenager.

"That aside," He continued, a forced smile on his face. "While that explains the food bill, would you mind _explaining_ _this_ mess _and_ why you _billed_ it to _**me**_?!"

"Uhh... he did it!" Daku was quick to pin the blame on Sir Caller, who had entered the wrecked classroom via magic key.

Their fellow classmate kept the blank look on his face before he stepped back through the doorway, and closed it quietly.

0o0

"In hindsight, this is all your fault." Elleno mumbled through gritted teeth as he shot a scathing glare at Daku, who just shrugged.

The class was currently at the old boy dorms, since apparently, this was the only suitable place for the study camp. And just their luck, first day of study camp, and they were already being punished.

"It was worth it." Was all Daku said to the accusation, still grinning despite having the Bariyon demon growing heavier on his lap.

"Why are we here...?" Chi muttered, a cloud over her head as she gestured to the two males beside her, wincing as the demon stone was beginning to make her legs numb.

"Aren't we the victims?" Ray added, grimacing. He wasn't sure he could ever look at a vechicle the same way ever again, so there went his desire to get a driving license for the next decade or so.

"It's called collective responsibility." Yukio crossed his arms as he stood in front of his students. "Since Aiba-san has failed to understand the concept of teamwork and chose to improvise, we will be improving on that via collective punishment."

"I'm so going to get lynched for this, aren't I?"

"You are so going to die for this." Tadashi broke his usually serious attitude to say this to Daku, who still looked as though he had not just wrecked the city with a jeep that somehow survived the ordeal.

"If I may say so, sir, I'm just dying to wreck the mood."

There was a pause, before:

"Sir Caller, do us all a favour, and go choke on a cross." Elleno deadpanned.

"Have I made you cross, sir?"

"... Change of plans. We're lynching this guy first."

"What, now? Great! Does this mean I get to skip out on punishment?"

"You wish."

"Of course I wish. At least I have brain for that, unlike you."

Before Elleno could strangle Sir Caller, Yukio cut in.

"If you all are too busy fighting amongst yourselves, there is no way any of you will be able to work as a team! Exorcists do not fight alone. Remember that!"

"But sir, we're not fighting alone, we are fighting each other."

Approximately half a minute later found Sir Caller with another Bariyon on his lap, the ground beneath him bending from the combined weight of Sir Caller and two Bariyon stones.

"I will be leaving for a mission and I'll be back in three hours." Yukio spoke, checking his watch as he did so. "I'll be locking the door to the dorms and setting up wards due to an incident that occured several years back."

"Locking the door to dorms?" Chi repeated, looking confused. "But Sensei, what if one of us needs to leave?"

"That won't be an issue." Yukio smiled in a pleasant manner, although it looked a little scary to his students. "You all will stay here while Aiba-san reflects on his actions. So sit there, and I'll be back in three hours."

As the door to the room closed behind Yukio, there was a moment of silence before Elleno spoke. "I'll be surpised if Okumura Sensei isn't a devil of some sort."

"Uh... is it just me, or does this seem awfully familiar?" Ray suddenly asked. For some odd reason, the American teenager honestly felt as though he had gone through something similar before.

"I don't know about you, sir, but while I may have been captaining naval vessels on Sirrea in my dreams, you may well have been remembering that last time you went to a strip club in Las Vegas. I mean, with heavy things on your lap, it might as well been a stripper-"

"Sir Caller, stop." Elleno interrupted. "Ray looks too innocent for that kind of dirty stuff. And by the way, that was me- wait a minute. Aw, shit."

"You went to a strip club?!" Daku exclaimed, wide eyed.

"Uh..." Elleno was unsure of what he could say to get himself out of the awkward situation he found himself in.

" _Without_ me?!" Daku cried shamelessly.

Chi promptly smacked the two males on the back of their head, before letting out a 'hmmph!' sound, muttering something about males all being the same, before a recovered Daku responded to Ray's question.

"I don't know. But this feels like a horror movie setting where once the teacher leaves, the lights shut off, and a monster comes crashing in."

"Daku, don't-"

The lights chose this very moment to shut itself off, plunging the students into darkness.

"-jinx it. Damn it, Daku, you just _had_ to say it, didn't you?"

"Yes, I really had to."

"Ow! My foot!" Apparently, when the students had started in surprise when the lights had been shut off, a Bariyon stone had fallen off someone's lap and landed on Ray's foot.

As Ray tended to his foot, he thought he heard something from the outside of the room.

"Did you guys hear that?"

"No, sir." Replied Sir Caller, who was wearing headphones that he apparently pulled out of nowhere.

"I know I'm getting to regret asking this, but where did you get that from?" Chi sighed, who just about had enough of her male classmates.

"Oh, I smuggled it in, sir. I was sitting on them."

"Do they even work?" Ray asked, his curiousity getting the better of him. "I mean, Okumura Sensei put two of the stones on you."

"No, sir. I was overweight, and therefore crushed them." Sir Caller replied with utmost seriousness. Well, that explained the dents and such.

"What do you mean by 'was'?!" Elleno snapped, having lost patience with his fellow classmate.

"I lost enough weight to a gurantee a change of pants, sir."

Everyone instictively edged away from the male.

"Are you serious?!" Ray asked, wondering what the hell was wrong with this guy.

"No, sir."

However, before any acts of violence could be commited, courtesy of a very annoyed Elleno and Chi there was a distant crash from somewhere in the building.

"Was that Kuro?" Ray asked no one in particular, standing up. He hadn't seen the Cat Sidth around for hours, so it was plausible that the cause of the noise was Kuro knocking something over accidentally.

"Who's Kuro?" Daku asked.

"A Cat Sidth that keeps following me around. I think he belongs to Okumura Sensei's though." Ray answered as he moved to the door. "I'm going to go and see."

"Oh! Can I come along? These idiots are probably gonna lynch me some time soon, so I want to enjoy the last few bit of my life with a test of courage!" Without waiting for a reply, Daku grabbed Ray's hand and practically dragged him out of the door, only to nearly trip over something.

"Kuro?!" True enough, the black cat was there, looking up at Ray and his friend.

"Uh... I hate to be the one to say this, but if your cat is here, what made that noise?" Tadashi asked, poking his head out from the doorway just as there was another thumping sound from down the darkened hallway.

There was a pause, before...

"Shit! Fall back! Fall back!" Daku pushed Ray back into the room and quickly followed along with Kuro before a black mass flooded the hallway.

"It's Koks!" Chi cried as Daku slammed the door shut. "We can't let it penetrate our defences- wait a minute."

"And here I thought you were the most sensible- ow!"

"Now is really not the time!" Ray interrupted the squabble, perspiration beading at his brow. He'd skimmed over the textbooks a while back and read about Koks. Apparently, this particular demon was made up of a bunch of coal tars, and ranked from a mid-level to high-level demon. Or something along that line.

That really didn't sound good.

Their class was made up of Pages, and they weren't even Esquires yet! There was no way they were going to get out of this without some injuries.

"No problem, sir." Sir Caller said. Apparently, Ray had spoken that last sentence aloud. "I have just the solution."

Sir Caller pulled out two MP5Ks from somewhere on his person, leaving the others in the room staring at him with their mouths agape.

"Woah! Awesome!" Ray exclaimed, his awe evident on his face.

"Where the hell did you get those?!" Elleno demanded, his eye twitching.

"Well, you see sir, I smuggled them in by shoving them up my-"

"Never mind, I don't want to know."

Just then, the door to the room came crashing down, reduced to splinters as Coal Tars swarmed the room.

"Cover your nose and mouth! They'll make your lungs rot!" Chi reminded them as Sir Caller positioned himself in front of the ground, aiming his smuggled weapons at Koks.

"I would add an interesting monolouge here, but that'll just sound cliché." The male commented off handedly before he let loose several rounds of bullets at the Coal Tar lord, the bullet casings flying everwhere.

Four seconds later, the guns clicked in Sir Caller's hands.

"Did I get him, sir?" Elleno looked at Koks, then back at Sir Caller. Repeating this action a few more times, he finally spoke.

"... How could you miss?!"

Sir Caller shrugged his shoulders. "It moved, sir."

"Shut up! Go practice- Ack!" Elleno was sent flying by the mass of Coal Tars before he crashed into a wall.

"Are you okay?!" Chi exclaimed worriedly, hurrying over to Elleno's side.

"No, does it look I'm okay?"

"You appear to be in smashing health sir." Sir Caller piped up as he reloaded before he fired off a few more rounds on his gun, still missing terribly.

"Sir Caller, get out."

"Both of you, shut up. And Elleno, you'll live. That's a just splinter, for heaven's sake." Tadashi said in a deadpan voice. "Anyone have any holy water, or know Koks's fatal verse?"

"I do!" Daku raised his hand. A moment later, the pin of a grenade was tossed at the swarm of Coal Tars.

"Not the pin, you dumb-! The grenade!" The calm and collected Tadashi nearly screeched in frustration. Daku responded by throwing said grenade next to the enraged male which then exploded, soaking everyone with holy water, especially Tadashi. Ray's front was mostly dry, but his back was completely soaked, since he had he used his own body to shield Kuro from the holy water.

None of them could complain though. At least it got rid of Koks.

"Well, that was refreshing, wasn't it, sirs?"

"Would you please shut up?"

0o0

After making sure that there was no leftover Coal Tars floating about in the vincinity, the Pages sat down in a circle to decide their next move.

"If there's one demon, there's bound to be another." Tadashi spoke, shifting into leader mode. "I mean, it's an old building, there's probably an infestation of some sort here. It's just our rotten luck that the lights went out, since demons tend to be more active in the dark."

"Wait, you mean I've been living in ticking time bomb for the past couple of months?!" Ray honestly did not like the idea. Although, that would explain why the air felt fuzzy somehow.

"If you want to put it that way, then yes." Elleno crossed his arms. "Anyway, what are we going to do? Hide out in here until Okumura Sensei gets back?"

"I vote on that choice!" Daku raised his hand.

"Actually," Ray cut in slowly, still thinking through what he was about say. "What about turning the lights on? We'll have less likely chance of getting attacked then, right? You know, since demons are more active in the dark, like Tadashi said."

Ray did a double take a moment later upon realizing that half of his class was looking at him with shocked look on their faces. "What?"

"I thought you were dumb like me!" Daku wailed dramatically, reduced to a sobbing mess on the floor.

"Hey, that's mean!" Ray made a face. "I only learn things by actually doing hands on work!"

"Moving on from the topic of Ray's intelligence or lack of thereof-" Tadashi ignored the blue eyed teenager's indignant cry. "-he does have a point. The presence of lights would greatly improve our chances of survival. Now, who wants to go into the demon infested hallways without weapons and extremely small chances of survival?"

"Me!"

"Besides Daku, who appears to be exceptionally enthusiastic about meeting Satan in the underworld. Any other volunteers?"

"I'm taking Ray and Sir Caller along!"

"What?!"

"No."

0o0

"Yes!" Daku fist pumped the air as he walked inbetween Ray and a Sir Caller who appeared to be skipping, not at all bothered about the fact that they could be attacked at any given moment. The rest of the class had stayed behind to... hold the fort, so to speak. Ray had left Kuro behind since the cat could protect his other classnates.

"Okay, this is creepy." Ray shuddered as he looked around the dark hallway. "But a least there aren't any demons around here."

The blue eyed teenager blinked, before he rubbed his eyes. Did he just see a flash of blue light?

"Sir, do you hear that?" Sir Caller suddenly asked.

Ray tensed up, thinking of all the possible demons that could attack. Maybe going out here unarmed was a _really_ bad idea...

"April Fools, sir."

"Huh?" Ray started at his senior's announcement. "But, isn't it July?"

"Exactly my point, sir."

"Sir Caller, you got me tensed up for nothing!" Daku whined like a five year old.

"I do apologise that you are a gullible idiot, sir."

Daku didn't reply to that, so the next couple of minutes were spent with them trying to locate the Breaker Box.

"I found it!" Ray exclaimed as they entered a room bigger than the previous ones, pointing at a panel that was covered in switches.

Running over to the panel, Ray blinked in surprise. The switches were all off... so this wasn't bad luck! This was planned!

"Sir, do you hear that?" Ray broke out of his thoughts upon hearing Sir Caller's voice.

"Ha! Like I'm going to believe that- Ack!"

Something slammed into Daku, sending him flying out of a window, effectively destroying said window. "I'll be baaaaaaaaaaack!"

"Daku!" Ray cried, eyes wide. "Is he going to be okay?!"

There was a thud as Daku landed on something, before this was followed by a, "I'm okay!"

"He'll live, sir." Sir Caller didn't even look twice as he pulled out a pistol of his school blazer.

Did he secretly have a portal to Narnia in there or something...?

The demon that had rammed itself against Daku slowly turned to face the two Pages as it stood up on its haunches, but Ray didn't even have to see what it looked like to know what it was. The foul smell of decay was enough.

The blue eyed teenager found his hand reaching up to touch his throat.

 _'A Naberius...'_ Ray thought in horror, the memory of one strangling him still fresh in his mind. Even though this one had the shape of a dog, or sone other canine, the teenager was terrified.

He didn't have any weapons, and Sir Caller was a really bad shot with those guns he had somehow smuggled out of the training room.

And Daku... Well, Ray wasn't too sure he was in any condition to help out. Falling from the second floor would have injured him, if he hadn't landed properly.

"The lights!" Ray turned back to the panel and began flicking every switch there was. Perspiration beaded at his brow as he bit his lip. He could hear Sir Caller engaging in combat with the demon, so he had to hurry.

But, before Ray could find the switch that switched the lights in the room on, he was tackled away from the panel.

He landed hard against the ground, and upon looking up, Ray briefly caught a glimpse of Sir Caller looking a little dazed after having been rammed against the wall before his vision was filled with the Naberius.

It snapped its jaws at him, purple substance splattering. Ray used his forearm to keep the demon from chewing his face off, but slowly, he could feel demon over powering him.

His pupils dialated with fear as he struggled, gritting his teeth as he used all of his strength in an attempt to push the Naberius off him.

Oh god, he was going to die.

Die...

 _Die..._

Wisps of smoke rolled off Ray's skin, barely noticeble. Something warm was struggling to break out, wanting to be free.

 _'I don't want to die-!'_ Ray didn't finish that thought, as there was a loud screeching noise, before a loud crash of glass and concrete.

From his position under the Naberius, Ray could only gape as a van flew through the air by its momentum, smashed itself into the Naberius and sent it flying.

Somehow, Ray managed to escape this unscathed.

"Did I get it?!" Daku yelled, a wide grin on his somewhat bruised face. The van he was driving had a suspiciously human shaped dent on top, so Ray could only guess what had happened.

"That was so awesome!" The blue eyed teenager returned the grin. "But how did you get it up here? We're on the second floor!"

Daku looked smug as he got out of the van. "Well, you see, I am simply one hell of a driver."

"Say what?"

"Anyway, weren't you going to turn the lights on?"

"Oh, right. Sorry."

"I don't know whether I should feel offended that I've been forgotten." Sir Caller commented from the side.

Daku was about to say something else, when he suddenly caught sight of movement behind Ray. His eyes widened in horror.

"Ray!" He yelled, seeing the dog Naberius that had survived getting smashed by a van lunge at his fellow Cram School classmate.

"Huh...?" Ray turned around, the world moving in slow motion. The teenager heard his vocal cords produce a sound of alarm, but his body was frozen.

 _No!_

Something in him took over, clenching his fist before he slammed it into the Naberius, sending it smashing through several walls, before it lay finally defeated.

There was a moment of silence, before...

"Holy-! That was so cool!" Daku gushed like a fangirl. "I didn't know you could do that, are you some type of super hero, or...!"

As the teenager babbled on, Sir Caller muttered something about checking the Naberius for a pulse (even though they didn't have one to begin with) and walked off.

Ray gingerly touched his knuckles, this entire thing feeling extremely surreal to him. That... couldn't have been him, right? He was strong, but... not that that strong!

Just... what was happening to him?

0o0

The trio returned to the room where everyone was, only to find them slightly more roughed up than they had been earlier.

"What happened to you guys?" Ray asked incredulously, looking at their singed clothes and hair.

"We had an incident regarding a low level fire demon." Tadashi said, blank faced.

"Oh."

"So are we done?" Chi asked, pouring water from her canister onto Elleno's burnt arm.

"Yes, you are done." The Pages jumped at the new voice, turning to see Yukio in the doorway. "Good work, everyone."

"Okumura Sensei!" Ray exclaimed.

"When did you get here?!" Chi mirrored Ray's shocked expression.

"I've been in the building the whole time." Yukio answered calmly.

"Then what was the whole demon attack thing about?!"

"Allow me to explain, my dear Pages!" A familiar looking man dressed like a clown jumped down from the ceiling through one of the panels, sucessfully giving the class a scare.

"What the-?!"

"Isn't that the Director?"

"What the hell is going on?!"

The eccentric man snapped his fingers, looking back at the students as he spoke. "Did all of you really believe that I'd let multiple demons in without my knowledge?"

Ray nearly had a heart attack when one of the cupboards in the room slid open, revealing one of the Cram school techers. There were teachers hiding out in alnoat every possible hiding place!

"Doctors, please see to their injuries." Mephisto said, giving the teachers with Doctor Meisters the go ahead.

"Wait a minute..." Realisation dawned on Tadashi. "You mean to say that-"

"Indeed!" Mephisto cut him off with a swish of his cape. "The study camp itself was the Esquire Certification Exam!"

"I called it!" Sir Caller suddenly piped up.

"What the hell do you mean by that?! You didn't know either!"

"Sir, I called it exactly three seconds ago."

While Sir Caller was escaping Elleno's wrath, Mephisto continued. "The faculty had hid themselves in order to observe your performance, and will determine whether you have a passing or failing grade. You'll get your results tomorrow, so do look forward to it~!"

"Oh, and Caller-san?" Yukio suddenly spoke up as soon as Mephisto had left, a forced smile on his face. "Do return those guns to the Training room. All of them. I mean it."

"Aw, man!"

 **[A/N Oh lord, that was the longest chapter I ever had to write! Sorry about the wait, and please excuse me if you find any errors. I might miss something even after proof reading.**

 **Anyway, I'm sure many of you are wondering why the chapter is so light hearted. Well, the main reason would be since there's going to be so much drama and angst in future chapters, I'm going to even it out with comedy. Secondly, it's practice, since I apparently have no sense of humor.**

 **And as for any dirty jokes you may come across... Well, let's just say that is the outcome of having an older brother help out in the story.**

 **And again, while the OCs are big characters in this arc, they won't be for long.**

 **Thanks for reading, and enjoy the omakes!**

 **~ Gwntan12]**

 **[Omake 1]**

"Sir?"

"Hm? What Sir Caller?"

"I was wondering, is anyone the son of Satan here?"

Elleno, who was drinking water at the time to take a break from the strategy meeting, did a spit take.

The rest of class gave him unimpressed looks as he choked and spluttered.

"Huh? Who that?" Daku asked cluelessly.

They ignored him.

"Why... do you ask?" Elleno asked as he recovered from his coughing fit.

Sir Caller shrugged his shoulders. "No reason. I just read this popular manga a while back called 'Bleu Exorcist', and-"

"Sir Caller. NO."

"Excuse me for breaking the fourth wall, sir. I had no idea your uni-cellular brain is unable to comprehend something so simple."

"... _W_ _hat?!"_

"Nothing, sir. I'll let you think about it for a few more weeks, and then maybe you'll understand."

"What?"

 **[Omake 2]**

"Is it me, or does this seem very familiar?"

"I don't know, sir. Are you sure that you are not remembering the last time you took the test, which led to your class taking another exam which ultimately led to them discovering that you are the spawn of Satan, which led to a whole other bunch of drama which I can't be bothered to remember right now, which also led to your eventual sucide before you were reincarnated as the person you are now?"

"... Excuse me?"

"You're excused."

 **[Omake 3]**

There was a crash of glass and concrete as the van (which had a suspiciously human shaped dent on the top) landed in the room with a screech of the tires before it rammed into its target.

"Did I get it?!" Daku yelled over the noise.

"...No, you hit Sir Caller." Ray stated blandly as he struggled to get the demon off him.

"I'm okay!" Sir Caller gave a thumbs up with his broken hand, grinning while showing that several teeth had been knocked out of his mouth.

 **[End]**


	10. Assignment

"Lovely morning today, isn't it, sir?" That was what Ray was greeted with when he stepped out of the dorms. He really wasn't sure if he was seeing things. Rubbing his eyes, he looked up again. Sir Caller was still there.

"Uh... what are you doing?"

"I believe I am currently hanging around here, sir." Responded a Sir Caller who was currently hanging off a tree by his feet. It would seem that Elleno had been dead serious about lynching him. "And, I do believe that I am currently in the slow process of dying."

"I may regret asking this, but how did Elleno get you up to the highest branch on that tree? That has to be at least six meters!"

"It's quite a funny story, sir..."

"It's seven in the morning. We only have meet sensei at eight. I have time." Ray spoke. For once, he had actually woken up to his alarm, which went off half an hour earlier than it was supposed to. Since he couldn't get back to sleep, he decided that he'd just get ready for the day.

"Pity. Well, sir, if you want to know, this one wasn't Elleno. Ask the Director if you really, _really_ , want to know."

0o0

Back in his office, Mephisto sneezed.

0o0

"Wouldn't it make more sense to ask you, though? I mean, you are here right now." Ray pressed as Sir Caller shot him a deadpanned look.

"Don't you have more pressing issues to attend to, sir?"

"... Was that a pun?"

"No sir."

"Anyway, what do you mean by 'this one'?" Ray asked, referencing what Sir Caller had said in a previous sentence.

"I mean to say that the others hung me outside the Director's office."

There was a pause as the gears turned in Ray's head, before...

"Oh. _Oh._ " The teenager said, realization dawning on him before he let out a few muffled snickers, which quickly changed to full blown laughter since the implications of Sir Caller's sentence were much too hilarious to not laugh at.

"Sir? Would you be so kind as to let me down? Sir? Sir!"

0o0

"Hey, didn't we leave Sir Caller here?"

"You think he got himself down?"

"Nah, he's too stupid for that."

"Right."

0o0

Ray had nearly been late, since it took him quite a while to stop laughing and attempt to get Sir Caller off the tree. Eventually, he had been able to get his fellow classmate off the tree via conveniently placed tall foldable ladder that had been left against the side of the dorm building. It took him half an hour to set the ladder up since it didn't come with instructions, and get Sir Caller down. Almost immediately, his senior had run off and abandoned him, leaving Ray to keep the ladder which took him another twenty five minutes.

All in all, Ray had five minutes to reach the academy, which was fifteen minutes away from the dorm. Thank whatever being was up there that he was a fast runner.

"Congratulations, my dear Pages, sorry, _Esquires_! You've passed!" A shower of confetti rained down on the newly promoted Esquires, promising days of picking the bits of paper from their clothes and hair. Mephisto had somehow pulled a brightly colored bannered from his hat, the ridiculously blinding neon words reading, 'Congratulations Esquires!'.

"Good lord, he's mad." Chi muttered under her breath.

"You just realized?" Ray couldn't help but quietly voice. Both were either ignored, or Mephisto just didn't hear. It was probably the former, judging from past experience.

"For this momentous occasion, I, as your wealthy Director, shall treat you all to Monjayaki!"

In the back of the room, Yukio facepalmed.

0o0

Yukio sat away from his students, more content to watch to watch the birds than to sit around and watch the students cook the Monjayaki.

He'd never admit it aloud, but it pained him to see the scene. Go back in time fifteen year, and it would have been an identical replica of his first class's celebration in becoming Esquires.

Well, almost, if Caller would just _stop_ trying to dump an excessive amount of salt in Elleno's monjayaki...

"Okumura-kun!" Mephisto, unsurprisngly clad in a pink _Honey Honey Sisters_ yukata, came up to Yukio in his usual manner.

"Director Pheles," Yukio greeted half heartedly, not really in the mood to speak with the King of Time. "What now?"

"There's no need to take that tone with me," Mephisto huffed, just as a grin crossed his face. "I just thought I'd tell you that the Vatican is getting rather suspicious. Too many demons are beginning to gather."

Yukio narrowed his eyes from behind his glasses. "What are you implying?"

Mephisto shrugged, throughly enjoying messing with the younger Okumura twin aa he completely ignored the younger male's previous question. "I wonder, if the Vatican came across someone who looks just like Satan's youngest spawn, would they take him in for trial? Or, would they just execute him?"

Yukio shot the demon the dirtiest look he could muster.

"But of course, this is all hypothetical." Mephisto continued. "But still, it is just something to watch out for, even more so due to the rise of demonic activity all over the world."

"Man, this looks great!" Ray loudly commented from the counter where he just was finishing preparing the monjayaki, cutting off anything Yukio was about to say. "I can't wait to eat it!"

"Hey! Don't start without me!" Mephisto cried, all traces of his previous seriousness gone in the blink of an eye as he rushed over.

Yukio didn't move from his spot, but simply took out his phone. The Vatican would no doubt notice something if he didn't hurry. They would come investigate, and when they find Ray...

No, his blood couldn't be spilled again.

Yukio pushed away the memories of _that_ day, of Rin's life blood painting the concrete pavement with gore, into the darkest crevices of his mind.

He couldn't do this alone.

He dialed a number and held it to his ear, listening to the ringing before there was a click as the other person on the end of the line picked up.

"Hello, Suguro-san. I'm sorry to bother you, but I need you, Shima-san, and Miwa-san's' help. I can't do this myself."

o...o

"No, I'm afraid you'll need to see it to actually believe me."

o...o

"Yes, I will be asking Kamiki-san."

o...o

"Thank you, Suguro-san. And I do apologise for calling you out here from Tokyo."

Yukio hung up. He let his eyes trail towards Ray, taking in his cheerful appearance as he laughed at some joke Daku told.

 _Never again._

0o0

On the other end of the phone, Suguro sighed as he replaced the device back onto the receiver. Trust his old teacher to suddenly call him up out of the blue and ask for help.

Exactly what he needed help with, Suguro had no idea.

He wished Yukio had told him what that was all about though. He was the Head priest of a temple, he couldn't just go off suddenly without a good reason.

He'd just have to give his former teacher the benefit of the doubt. After all, he didn't call if it wasn't important.

"Hey Bon, who was that?" Shima asked, poking his head into the room. He no longer had his hair dyed pink, and left it as its natural hair colour. Much like Suguro who had long outgrown having his trademark 'rooster hairstyle', as Rin (Suguro felt his heart clench at the thought of the male) had dubbed it.

"It was Yukio," Suguro answered, before adding, "And cut it out with the 'Bon'!"

"No way!" Shima snickered. "It's too good of a nickname to pass up! Anyway, you said something about Okumura?"

Suguro, although still slightly miffed about the nickname, answered. "Okumura needs help back at True Cross, and he asked us and Konekomaru to come and help him out."

Shima whistled. "Sounds important. Did Okumura tell you what it was about?"

The Head priest shook his head. "He just said I'll need to see it to believe it."

"Aw man, that sucks." Shima moaned. "Now I'm feeling worried."

"That's what you always say." Suguro commented flatly as he stood up. "Get Konekomaru. We're leaving on the earliest train we can get on."

"But that's an hour from now!"

"Well then, you better get packing."

0o0

Izumo hung up, after telling Yukio that _no, it wasn't like she wanted to help him, but she didn't have anything to do for the next three weeks, and she was bored._

Although, she was a tad bit curious about what her former sensei needed help with...

She shook her head, brushing strands of short purple hair from her face. She had cut it a while back, deciding that she hadn't liked the look.

Well, she had better get packing. It wouldn't be good to be away from Inari for too long a time and leave the shrine unattended, especially with more and more shady people appearing around these parts.

0o0

"I see you've called your brother's old classmates." Mephisto addressed Yukio, who narrowed his eyes.

"What of it?"

"Oh, nothing." The Demon King replied flippantly. "And that wasn't what I called you here for. I assume you remember that forest camp you took your first class on to determine whether or not they were ready for missions?"

How could Yukio forget? That was where everything went downhill.

Seeing the dark look on his youngest half brother's face, Mephisto wisely decided not to tread on that particular ground, and continued on a different path.

"Well, this year, I have decided to conduct no such thing!"

"Director Pheles!" Yukio began to protest. "That test determines whether or not the Esquires are ready for actual field work!"

"And what better way to test them than on the actual field?" Mephisto grinned. "Dangerous, yes, but being an Exorcist is not without risk! Have them realise early on how dangerous Exorcism is, rather than keeping them sheltered. Am I right?"

Begrudgingly, Yukio had to admit that Mephisto's idea actually made sense. But he couldn't help but feel as though there was some ulterior motive behind this.

"Fear not, Okumura-kun," Mephisto propped his feet up on the desk. "You'll be there, carrying out your 'duty' I believe. I'll even allow your old students to accompany your current students. That is a suitable compromise."

Finally, after a moment, Yukio sighed. "What is it that you have in mind for my students to undertake?"

"Excellent!" The demon crowed, seeing that he had won. "As for the assignment, the Cram School students will head over to the American branch and investigate the increase in demonic activity, which currently has one of the highest concentrations of demonic activity besides Japan."

"Wait, American branch?!" If Yukio had been sure before, he just _knew_ there was some ulterior motive regarding Ray now.

"Indeed, Okumura-kun! Apparently during recent years, their numbers have dwindled due to a decrease in number of those receiving a Spirit Wound. As such, they need extra manpower, and what better way is there than to kill two birds with one stone?"

Yukio couldn't respond to that.

0o0

Yukio stood at the platform of the train station, awaiting the arrival of the former Cram School students.

He checked his watch. The train from Kyoto should be arriving in about a minute...

The train pulled into the station, not one second late as it stopped at the platform.

The doors slid open, and amongst the small crowd, Yukio was quickly able to recognise his former students, even though it had been a while since he had actually last seen them.

"Yo, Okumura!" Shima waved as soon as he had spotted their former teacher.

"Shima-san," Yukio greeted him, still unused to seeing the man without a head full of pink hair, before turning to Suguro and Konekomaru.

"Miwa-san, it's good to see you." The aforementioned nodded.

"It is good to see you too." He spoke. He still sported a bald head, although he had significantly grown taller since he was fifteen.

Finally, Suguro. "Thank you for coming all the way out here with Shima-san and Miwa-san."

"It's alright." The Head Priest then chamged the topic. "So, what was it that you needed help with?"

Yukio looked uncomfortable for a moment, before reverting back to his usual stoic appearance. "I... I'd prefer to show all of you at once, so please wait for Kamiki-san. And... I don't know how any of you will react, especially after..."

He trailed off, pausing for a moment before speaking again. "Please, don't over react, no matter how shocked you are. He won't understand."

The three Kyoto natives cast a glance at each other, the unspoken question in the air.

 _He?_

A few minutes passed as they waited for the last member of the group to arrive, until another train finally pulled into the station.

The doors slid open, and out stepped a familiar face, her tsundere-ness as visible as always.

"Izumo-chan!" Shima waved happily, to which he was met with a cold shoulder and a 'tsk!'.

"Hmmph, idiot." She scoffed, ignoring the over dramatic wails from the male before she walked over to Yukio.

"What is it that you need help with? Get it over and done with, because I have things to do."

Yukio hesitated for a moment, before he sighed, gesturing for the group to follow him. "Alright, follow me back to the dorms. And again, I repeat. Do not act or say anything rashly."

"Why would we do that?" Izumo asked, her frown still in place.

"Is it something... serious?" Konekomaru couldn't help but ask nervously.

"Not serious right now, but this situation will turn for the worse if the Vatican discovers it."

"Ahahaha... you didn't kill anyone, did you?" Shima asked, laughing nervously as he tried to lighten the mood.

"No, I did not." Yukio deadpanned. "But since you all appear to be so insistent in knowing, I will give you a brief run down. This involves one of my current students, and... you will know why I'm so concerned soon enough."

Seeing that their former sensei was not going to say more on the matter until at a later time, they walked in silence until they reached the old boys' dorm.

Yukio pushed the door open, and quickly moved into the building, the others following after.

The tense silence was absolutely killing them, as was their burning curiosity, but none of them said anything. They just had to wait and see what the fuss was all about.

Finally, Yukio stopped in front of one of the rooms close to his own, before he turned to his former students. "Alright, we're here. I'll answer any questions you may have, as soon as I get this over with. But first, move a little further away."

"Hurry up." Izumo said flatly, looking disinterested although she too was curious to finally see what their former teacher had called them out for.

Yukio knocked on door, and there was the sound of footsteps just before the door opened, revealing a _very_ familiar looking teenager with blue eyes and dark hair.

"Okumura sensei? Is there anything you need?" He asked, oblivious to the additional people in the area.

"Yes. Could you tell your other classmates that the Director just gave the Esquires an assignment to test if you all are ready for field work? I'll give the details later, but for now, please tell them." Yukio spoke, trying to ignore the stares from his former students boring into his back.

He could already hear them demanding for an explanation.

"Okay. One moment." The teenager shut the door to the room, and a click from the other side signaled the use of a magic key.

Yukio turned to face the former Cram School students.

"That was Ray Owens, my student. And he is the reason I need all of you to help me."

 **[A/N I'm so sorry I took like a month to update! I've got exams to study for!** **Anyway, my next update should come out after my exams or something, so until then, I'm sorry I won't be updating!**

 **Also, since I'm here, I would like to address something that I find rather irritating. If you wish to ask questions, please use your account, so I can reply to you.**

 **And to that one guest who said I was rehashing Blue Exorcist with the characters I have, I don't mean to be rude, but have you read the chapters I wrote up until chapter 8? They were all original! Sure, I had to use the manga to ensure that I was getting my facts right, but other than that, I didn't reference the manga or the anime. Chapter 9 I do admit was similar to that one part of Blue Exorcist, but it only mildly resembles it. Sure, sure, same setting and punishment, but completely different circumstances. And regarding your concern with the OCs, I _did_ say that they were going to be important for a while, but not for the whole story. I _specifically_ mentioned that a while back in one of the Author Notes.** **And, since I utterly suck at creating decent OCs, the ones I use right now that belong to my brother are practice for any future OCs I create.**

 **Anyway, sorry for that. I needed to get that off my chest. And the OCs should be gone by the time this arc is over, and I'll be able to build things from there to get to the part I've been waiting to write.**

 **And then comes angst...**

 **Anyway, thanks for reading, and bye!**

 **~ Gwntan12 ]**


	11. Frightful Flight

When Ray relayed the news of a test to ensure that the Esquires were prepared for field work to his Cram School classmates, Daku's head instantly hit his desk.

"Noooo...!" He whined pathetically, giving the perfect impression of a dying person. "No more tests! I fell out of a window the last test because a Naberius rammed into me!"

"But you weren't even that injured!"

"My ego was bruised, I say! Bruised!" He wailed. "Where can I find a hospital that fixes egos?!"

"Can't fix what isn't there, can you?" Chi asked, throwing a quick joke into the fray.

Daku promptly fainted, falling off his seat with a thud.

"What?" The female exorcist asked, upon receiving incredulous looks. "I didn't even touch him! Not that I would want to anyway, even with a ten foot pole."

The door to the cram school opened with a click, Yukio stepping in.

"Alright class, I-" He paused, seeing Daku passed out on the ground, before proceeding to take his glasses off so that they wouldn't be in the way of his exasperated facepalm. "I'm not even sure why I bother anymore, but what happened to him?"

"Chi happened." Ray pointed at the female. "Something about Daku being egoless. And are there seriously hospitals that can fix egos?"

"No, there aren't." Yukio replaced his glasses, and turned to the class to address them.

"As Owens-san should have told you, you all will be taking a test to confirm whether or not you are ready to go out into the field. Although, this year is a little different as the Director has decided that you all will be actually be going on a real assignment as the test." Elleno raised his hand.

"Sensei, what is the assignment?"

"We're assisting the American Branch in investigating the rise of demonic activity. And since you all are _still_ Esquires, I requested some assistance from some people I know. They're currently preparing themselves for this assignment, so I will introduce them later."

Yukio checked his watch. "You all have one and a half hours to gather essentials for the next three weeks. Please meet up at the front of the academy, where we will head to the airport."

"Two hours?!" Chi looked panicked. "But that's not enough time to-!"

"Exorcists have to be ready at all times in case they have an urgent mission." Yukio replied easily, smiling pleasantly as the lenses of his glasses glinted. "So, you should get started."

There was a pause as the information sank in, before everyone stood up with a screech of their chairs as they hurriedly gathered their materials.

"He's like a devil or something!" Elleno muttered under his breath, hurriedly picking his bag.

"But sir-"

"No, shush, don't say anything." Elleno interrupted Sir Caller before he could say anything.

"You are a spoilsport, sir."

As the students filed out of the room, intent on returning to their rooms to pack, Yukio hesitated as he caught sight of Ray. Even though he knew that Rin's old friends were trustworthy and were capable of helping out in his personal mission, Yukio felt uncomfortable.

Yukio promised Father Fujimoto that he would watch over Rin. _He_ was the one who promised. Rin was _his_ responsibility, and _his_ alone.

 _But you've already failed, haven't you?_ That small voice in the back of his head tauntingly whispered. _You failed Father, you failed Rin. You let him **die**._

"Sensei?" Yukio blinked, snapping out of his thoughts. Regaining his bearings, he finally noticed Ray, his eyebrows furrowed ever so slightly with worry as he looked as his teacher. "You kinda blanked out for a moment there. Are you alright?"

Yukio smiled, letting no trace of his inner turmoil be visible on his face or in his body languange even though it _hurt_. "Yes, I'm alright. Don't worry about me. Although I do believe you have packing to do."

Ray visibly panicked, before he ran for the door. "Crap, you're right! Thanks for the reminder!"

Yukio allowed himself a small smile as the door closed behind the teenager before he himself left the classroom to prepare a few more things.

"Just like nii-san."

Half a minute after the door closed behind Yukio, Daku sat up, dazed, and asked, "Where did everyone go?"

0o0

One and half hours later, most of the Cram School students were at the designated meeting place, save for Daku who probably still had no idea what was going on.

"Should I look for him?" Ray wondered aloud. "He might still be in the classroom."

"Auf wiedersehen, sir." Sir Caller said, much to the blue haired teenager's confusion.

"Say what?" Ray asked, blinking cluelessly as he looked around at his classmates for help. "What did he say?"

"Don't know, don't care." Elleno deadpanned, having given up on his insane friend. "Ask google translate- oh wait, that sucks. You'll get something weird."

"But I've been using that to translate my school work when I'm not using my book!"

"You poor, poor, person."

"Good luck surviving." Tadashi deadpanned as he fiddled with phone.

"Why are you guys so mean to me?!" Ray childishly pulled a face. "I'm not stupid!"

"Really, sir," Sir Caller feigned surprise. "I thought you would have been aware of your name by now."

"That just burns, you know that?"

"Yes sir."

"Apply liquid nitrogen to the the burn, Ray." Elleno said from the side before he paused.

"Did anyone hear that?" He suddenly asked, making all current conversation come to a screeching halt as the Cram school students strained their ears.

"No?" Ray phrased it as a question, rather than a statement.

Then they heard it. The sound of insane laughter. The kind of laughter that wasn't evil, but more like overly enthusiastic kind of laughter.

They looked up.

"Good lord." Tadashi gaped as a what looked like a shopping cart flew over their heads before it landed and slid against the asphalt, creating a horrendous screeching noise reminiscent of nails on a chalk board, before finally coming to a halt.

"Hey guys! Look what I found!" Daku waved from his seat in the shopping cart. Said cart looked as though it could barely fit his form, and seemed as though it would fall to pieces at any given moment due to the abuse it had just been put through.

"What. The. Hell. What the _hell_ are you doing?!"

"Woah, cool!" Ray exclaimed, his eyes shining. "How did you make that fly?!"

"That's another thing!" Elleno interrupted, his eye twitching. "What- how- That thing doesn't even have flying capabilities!"

Daku grinned, his teeth sparkling as he did so. "Rule whatever number it was, a good pilot can fly anything that is supposed to fly with ease, and with some difficulty, somethings that are not supposed to fly."

"Awesome!"

"Don't encourage him, Ray!"

"I assume this yet another thing that I don't want to know?" The Cram School students turned to see their teacher, his eye twitching ever so slightly. Behind him, were five other individuals. One who was clearly that lady who owned the Exorcist shop waved happily, her familiar mimicking the motion.

"He made a shopping cart fly!" Ray was a tad bit more enthusiastic than he probably should have been.

Yukio sighed, feeling the incoming migraine. "I don't want to know."

A snort of laughter came from one of the newcomers, a dark haired male with a K'rik. "Okumura, do your classes get crazier every year?"

Yukio sent him a look. "No, Shima-san. This year is an exception, much like your year was."

"But that wasn't my fault!" As Shima complained, Yukio ignored him in favour of addressing his class.

"These people will be accompanying us for the assignment, so please don't do anything _too_ stupid." The man was bluntly honest with his students, after having been witness to their entics.

Really, Yukio had never encountered such troublesome students in his entire career as a teacher.

0o0

"We're flying!" Ray's eyes shone as he pressed himself against the window of the aircraft heading back to his home country, marveling at increasing distance being put between the ground and the plane. Even if this wasn't the first time he had sat on a plane, the experience was still as thrilling as his first time had been.

"We're gonna die!" Daku wailed from his seat beside the aforementioned teenager, drawing glares from the other passengers.

Ray blinked in surprise, hearing this.

Tearing his attention away from the window, Ray spoke, his brows scrunched up in confusion. "But you fly things that aren't even supposed to fly! Why are you scared?"

"That's when _I'm_ doing the piloting! Who knows how inexperienced these people doing the flying right now could be!"

Ray felt himself pale slightly, remembering his experience with Daku's driving skills. Never again. He silently thanked whatever god existed in the heavens that Daku was not the one behind the controls of the airplane. "You don't even have a licence for driving or piloting!"

"Yet!"

A couple of seats back behind the two, Suguro sat in silence. Occasionally, he found himself sending the blue haired teenager glances, questioning himself whether or not this was some strangely vivid dream sent to torment him. The guilt he had tried to bury away in the deep recesses of his mind all those years ago had resurfaced, pushing their way to the top at the mere sight of that teenager who looked, no, _was_ Rin.

He hadn't known how to react for the first few seconds after Yukio had finally told them everything, his suspicions for over the course of two and a half months, not to mention the _overwhelming_ amount of evidence...

Was this Rin's way of getting his revenge? No, wait. The teenager was too damn nice for that.

But then again...

Suguro cursed under his breath, soft enough that Yukio who was sitting beside him didn't hear a thing.

Perhaps this was indeed karma.

0o0

For the first ten or so hours, everything went smoothly other than an incident that shall not be spoken of ever again regarding Elleno and Tadashi.

"Sir?"

"What?"

"Are we there yet?"

"For the love of-! NO! You've asked that damn question every thirty seconds for the last five hours, don't you have anything better to do?!"

"No. My phone's out of power."

"You could have charged your phone over there!" Elleno snapped irritably, pointing at the arm rest of the seat.

"I don't have a charging cable, sir. We were told to pack light by sensei."

"He did not-!"

"I did." Yukio cut in blandly as he turned a page in his book from where he was seated across them from the aisle.

"Oh... sorry. But seriously, a charging cable isn't even that heavy!"

"Can I borrow yours?"

"No. I said so five hours ago."

"Are we there yet?" Asked Sir Caller.

"NO WE ARE NOT-!" Began an irate Elleno just as a violent force shook the whole plane, sending several passengers who had not been seated flying, including Elleno who had just begun to stand.

Ray, who had just been returning from the bathroom, gave a rather high pitched screech as the sudden lurch sent him tumbling over a few seats, resulting in him landing on both Izumo and Shima.

"Hey! Get off!" Izumo spluttered, going red as she shoved the teenager onto Shima.

"Sorry..." Ray mumbled dizzily, seeing a double image of Shima. Since his eyes would not focus, he dazedly decided that the image on the left looked the best.

"Nah, it's alright." Shima cheerfully replied amongst the screaming of the other passengers, just as another violent force shook the plane.

Yukio hurried to the window, a sinking feeling in his gut as he looked out. Being so close to the infested part of America, this did not bode well.

Peering out of the window with apprehension, it was no surprise that Yukio was shocked to see a man wearing skydiving gear, holding up a cardboard sign with crudely written words scrawled on it, reading, 'I WAS YOUR PILOT' written in both English and Japanese.

Said man was then snatched by one of the many large, skinny flying monstrosities with bat like wings and an arrow tail, before promptly being carried off into the sunset.

Yukio, feeling both flabbergasted and horrified, unsure if it was the result of the terrifying monsters, or the pilot's blatant stupidity. Either way, they were probably screwed, since he didn't have any weapins that would be effective outside a plane flying at five hundred knots. He could only hope the co-pilot could fly them to safety.

"Hey, sir, look! I'm flying!" Sir Caller suddenly piped up cheerfully, seemingly hovering above his seat and half the aisle in a superman position.

Yukio ignored him, focusing on calming his frantic students and the passengers in general, as well as trying to not be flung into the ceiling of the plane. "Yes, I know we're losing altitude, but I'm sure the co-pilot knows what he or she is doing. They ought to know how to fly the plane-"

"DOES ANYONE KNOW HOW TO FLY THIS THING?!" Yelled the co-pilot, sticking his head out of the cockpit, whose nametag was hastily written with a ballpoint pen.

"Nevermind." Yukio muttered under his breath.

"I do!" Daku piped up cheerfully.

"Wait, don't let him-!"

"Stop him-!"

"NO!"

The door to the cockpit was promptly sealed before anyone could do anything to stop him.

"Is he even a pilot?" Konekomaru couldn't help but ask nervously from behind Shima's seat as he adjusted his glasses that had been askew from his tumble.

"He thinks he's one..." Ray laughed weakly, growing paler by each passing second as he held the front of Shima's shirt in a death grip. "I probably should get back to my seat, but I want to be seated when the plane starts imitating a roller coaster."

"What do you- oh." Konekomaru seemed to understand, turning slightly green.

Just then, the intercom crackled to life amongst the screams of the passengers and the rattling of the airplane. **"Hello, this is your new pilot speaking, who's a hell lot more competent than the old one, and a whole lot more dashing if I may say so myself!"**

"I BEG TO DIFFER!" Some of the current Cram School students screeched in despair just as they were flung to the side.

 **" _ANYWAY..._** **I need you all to calm down, sit tight, buckle your seatbealts, relax, and pray that the windows don't break, because the suspiciously hungry looking monsters outside are not about to kill you... I think."**

The entire cabin erupted into screams as the voice in the intercom's speech got drowned out, before becoming audible again.

 **"So, we're about to make some small course corrections, so do expect... minor turbulance. But don't worry! I take safety _very_ seriously! This is your pilot Daku signing off, so do have a _wonderful_ ride!"**

The click of the intercom was onimous, and a deafening silence followed.

"C'est la vie..." Tadashi mournfully declared.

"We're dead." Ray attempted to translate as he held on to Shima for dear life, tears streaming down his face in a manner that would have been comical, if not for the situation.

"That's life." Suguro corrected, feeling extremely uneasy.

0o0

"This is Nevada state Airspace control tower, Flight JP-126, please report your sta-" The flight manager cut himself off as he saw the said flight's holographic representation on the 3D map spinning around wildly, making erratic maneuvers, and flying way faster than a commercial aircraft should be able to, all at the same time.

 **"Oh, yeah, this is Flight JP whatever-number-"**

"-126-"

 **"-yeah, whatever** **. We're currently heading towards you- uh, where's the airport?"**

"Bearing forty degrees north north-west, one hundred and twenty nautical miles." The poor man could feel a headache coming on.

 **"Oh, thanks! And if you're wondering about our weird flying manuevers, it's because we are currently being pursued by these strange flying creatures. Don't worry, the passengers are fine!"** This was said cheerfully, just as muffled screaming could be heard in the background. **"Mostly, at the very least."**

"Uh... alright. You are clear to enter Nevada. I've already reported to the airport about this... situation."

 **"Oh, cool thanks!"** The voice chirped. **"Bye, dude!"**

The radio was disconnected, leaving the flight manager to wish for his shift to end faster, so that he may take a trip to the nearby bar to forget that this day ever happened.

0o0

Ray shrieked as the plane suddenly tilted vertically, resulting in any object that wasn't nailed down raining down on the unfortunate passengers.

Out of the corner of his eye, he witnessed Sir Caller being hit by a stray trolley. While he inwardly cringed, most of his brain functions were busy with trying to survive the flight so any concern he had for his fellow classmate took a rain check.

Fortunately, Shima had seemed to take the liberty of shielding the teenager he was holding from any falling objects, so dodging was the least of his concerns.

"Is that boy crazy?!" Izumo managed to find her voice as she held held onto her seat so tightly that the fabric was beginning to rip. "He's going to get us killed!"

"Oh, don't worry, sir." Sir Caller, who was now sporting a rather impressive bruise on his face, piped up as he climbed onto one of the vacant seats next to theirs. "Sir Daku is a very safe driver."

"How is this safe?!" Shima wailed, clutching onto Ray like he was a teddy bear.

"It's safe until you die." Sir Caller cheerfully explained. "If you dont die, sir, it's safe."

Just then, the co-pilot flew past them, screaming, halting the conversation.

"Oops! I didn't know that button unlocked the door!" Daku could be heard cackling away like a mad man. "I need a new co-pilot! Any volunteers?"

"Ooh, me! I've always wanted to fly a plane!" Sir Caller began climbing towards the cockpit.

"NO!"

"STOP HIM-!"

Before anyone could even do anything, the cockpit was locked with an onimous click.

"Aw, shit."

And thus, began the second phase of the most terrifying flight to have ever taken place.

0o0

"This is McCarran international airport, please state your flight number and venue of departure."

 **"JP- uh, what was it again?"**

 **"JP-126, sir."** A second voice piped up.

 **"Oh, thanks! Anyway, venue of departure was Japan, from Nagano, I think."**

 **"Yes, because Nagano obviously as an airport, sir."**

 **"Tokyo?"**

 **"Ah, I see you've actually got a brain cell, sir."**

The poor man who was currently manning the control tower seemed absolutely lost. "Uh... alright. But there's currently a long line of delayed flights, and so there is no available runways. Please mantain current altitude and await further instructions."

 **"Gee, thanks!"** The first voice chirped. **"Landing now!"**

"Wait, what-?! No, don't-!"

A plane flew past the tower at a speed impossible for a commercial airplane, landing on a small stretch of the runway before screeching to a halt in less than sixty meters.

The man gaped for a few moments, closely resembling a goldfish before he promptly decided that he was probably dreaming, and that this was sign telling him that he should quit his job.

0o0

Ray was dead. He was dead, and was now awaiting burial.

"I'm dead. I don't want to live on this planet anymore..." He whimpered pitifully as he lay face down on the floor.

After the flight was over, the teenager had disentangled himself from Shima who was passed out before dragging himself out of the cursed airplane. Half of the passengers were vomiting their guts out onto a grassy spot of land, while the rest were still passed out on the aircraft. Surpringly, only one abulance was actually needed, and that was only for the co-pilot's broken arm and nose.

Ray was still never taking an airplane ever again. Never again.

"Hey, sir!" Ray, still feeling as though the life was being sucked out of him, looked up and grimaced at how the sunlight just seemed to make his nausea worse.

Sir Caller, who was looking unfairly fine, was looking down at him, a rather greasy looking hotdog that he had bought from somewhere was positively dripping with butter in his hand. The greasy smell of the hotdog made Ray's nausea worse, and the teenager silently cursed his senior.

Sir Caller took a bite out of the greasy meat.

"If I may say so myself, sir, that wasn't the _wurst_ that sir Daku can do."

"Get out." Ray scowled.

 **[A/N Look who's back! I'm so sorry I took so long to update, but I had a lot to do after my exams.**

 **One, I had to help plan for a trip to Japan, which is where I am right now. Tokyo, to be exact.**

 **Two, this chapter did not want to be written. I rewrote the scenes so many times, that I ended up with what you just read. And yes, I know there's a lot of humor. It will get serious later, but how later is the question.**

 **Three, I was binge watching D.Gray-Man. It's a great anime, so don't judge. I had fun. I'm still sad about the Neah situation with Allen though.**

 **I would say that I'll try not to make my updates take such a long time, but I have major exams next year. T_T**

 **I'll try to update at least one more time this year, but no promises.** **Thanks for waiting, and see you guys next time!** **~ Gwntan12]**

 **OMAKE**

Tadashi's eye twitched as Elleno continued to mutter things under his breath.

He wished he had bought a pair of earmuffs back at the airport. What was Elleno even doing?

Tadashi looked over Elleno's seat, about to tell the aforementioned male to shut up, before he stopped short, seeing what was displayed on Elleno's tablet.

Turning pink, Tadashi sat back down, his eye twitch getting worse.

"For the record, I'm totally not looking at porn. This is my biology project." Elleno quickly said in a slightly higher pitch than usual.

 **End**


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